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The Wolf 
of Gubbio 



^ Comedy in 'Three Acts 



151 



151 



151 



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151 



By Josephine Preston Peabody 

{Mrs.. Lionel Marks') 
















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151 



15 



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BOSTON 2indi NEW TORK 
Houghton Mifflin Company 

1913 



151 

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COPYRIGHT, I913, BY JOSEPHINE PEABODY MARKS 
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 



Published December IQ13 



This play has been copyrighted and published 
simultaneously in the United States and Great 

■ Britain. 

. All rights reserved^ including rights of pro- 
duction y translation, and adaptation. 

The acting rights both professional and ama- 
teur are fully protected; and no performance may 
be given, except by special arrangement with the 
author, who may be addressed in care of the 
publishers. 



/ 






TO 

LIONEL MY LITTLE SON 

AND 

LIONEL HIS FATHER 



PERSONS OF THE PLAT 



The Wolf 
Francis of Assisi 
Brother Leo 
Brother Juniper , 
NicoLO, the Inn-keeper 
' Lucia, his daughter 
The Baker 
The Potter 
The Furrier 
The Furrier's Wife 
The Dyer 
The Dyer's Wife 
Old Lucrezia 

B/MBO "^ 
BiMBA 

Louis, the King of France 
Grillo 
' Vecchio Vecchio 



Children 



> 



} 



His companions 



People of Gubbio 



Two Thieves 



Persons of the Play 



A Poor Man, Giuseppe 
A Poor Woman, Assunta 
And A Baby 
Three Dryads 

Other folk of Guhhio, 






From Foligno 



Time : The day before Christmas, 700 years ago 
Place : Italy 5 in and near Gubbio 



The action falls within the space of twelve hours. 

Act L — Morning : The woods on the mountain 
Act 11. — Noon : Gubbio 
Act III. — Night : Gubbio 



Prologue 

^San Francesco! 
San Francesco! 
— Bi* Assist ! 
— D'Assisi! 
—UAssisH' 



Act I 



^he Little Poor Man walked the world, 
{Laugh ^ laugh y my scars !) 

Hunger and thirsty and lack^ and losSy 
Beckoned to him as stars. 



* * * 




The Wolf of Gubbio 



Act I 

Scene : A deep pine-wood on the mountain, 'The 
scene is framed right and left with two 
towering pine-boles like pillars^ front, that 
reach out of sight without show of green. 
At the back, a bridle-path crosses ; and the 
clearing, centre, shows a glimpse of the val- 
ley far below, with a sweep of silver-bright 
winter sky, 'The ground is strewn with cop- 
pery pine-needles and dead leaves ; a few 
patches of snow, 'The dense pines tower out 
of sight, copper and dun, and laced with green- 
ish light, but few boughs low enough to see, 
Down, towards the centre, to the left of the 
spectator, a gray rock, half-covered with pine- 
needles, shelters the opening of a low cave. 

Out of the bleak refrain of the wind comes the 
voice of The Wolf, big and sorrowful, _^ 




4 The Wolf of Gubbio 

Voice of The Wolf 

HE World is cold; the World is 

cold. 
The snows are round us, fold on 
fold. 

Only the flocks are stalled within ; 
The kine are gathered, kith and kin. 

... I must be growing old. 

\_The voice dies away with a moan] 
[A Pine-Dryad leans down swayingly from 

' behind the trees in the foreground to the 
right. A second does likewise^ left, 'Their 
auburn' hair is long and straight; their 
hanging drapery is filmy green. They beckon 
each other y and listen^ with finger on lip. 

Voice of The Wolf 

Their breath goes up, from stall and pen, 
" Close beside the homes of men 
Gathered together, down below; - 
Homes of the men of Gubbio. 
I have seen their breath float up together. 
Warm and white, white as a feather, — 
All together, against the cold. 

... I must be growing old. 



The Wolf of Gubbio 5 

First Dryad 
Who Is it ? — Did you hear ? 

Second Dryad 
. . . Did you? 

Voice of a Wood-Dove 

\J?ubblingly'\ 

Who? . . . Who? 

Voice of The Wolf 

This old unhappy heart 

Does nought to keep me warm. 

Dreams come, to vex me in a swarm. 

I can but crouch and nurse the smart; 

I can but ail, and lie apart, 

And hide, from storm to storm. 

Watching the little lights below ; 

Lights, for the men of Gubbio ! 

The world is very old. 

— And I am cold. 
\^he Vine-Dryad appears over the edge of 
the cliff at back, reaching her way with 
long arms, from a tree-top just visible. She 
has dark hair in tendrils ; and a garment of 
green and violet. She listens like the others. 



6 The Wolf of Gubbio 

Second Dryad 

Hush, can it be ? 

First Dryad 
. . . Ah, listen, do! 

Wood-Dove 

Who? . . . Who? 

I 
Vine-Dryad 

Good-morning, Beautiful ! — And happy meet- 
ing. 

First Dryad 
— Ehi, greeting! 

Second Dryad 

— Greeting ! 

Vine-Dryad 
We're listening. 

Second Dryad 

^ So am I! 

But who ? 



The Wolf of Gubbio 7 

First Dryad 

And why? 
None of you tiptoe Vines could ever guess. — 
Some one is pining of his loneliness! 

Pine-Dryads 

\Jaughing\ 

The Wolf— the Wolf it is, — old hulking 
surly — 

Vine-Dryad 

Only the Wolf? that woke us all so early ? 

\_Shivering\ 
Oime ! — O Tramontana, change your tune ; — 

Let it be June ! 
\_Joining the other s\ 

Second Dryad 

Hush! We may bring him out, with all this 
patter. 

Vine-Dryad ! 

Not we, indeed ! And if we did, what mat- 
ter? 
He has no ears for chatter ! 



8 The Wolf of Gubbio 

First Dryad 

Nor many teeth, by this, for punisliment : — 
Dull wits, and duller scent. 

Vine-Dryad 

There 's something in his heart, though, did 
you hear? 

Wood-Dove 
... Fear . . . Fear ! 

' First Dryad 

\Jooking up in the trees'^ 

Squirrel, what is it ? 

Do you find out. Run in, run in and visit ! 
[_^hefe are heard and seen little scurryings 
in the dead leaves. 

Second Dryad 

Not he ! Not he ! He knows what he *s about. 
— Wolf with a secret ! 

Vine-Dryad 

— Ah, his heavy heart; 
No wonder ! He must stay with it, you know, 
Sulking apart ; 

\_A doglike groan from The Wolf] 
, Only his black heart keeping him awake. 



The Wolf of Gubbio 9 

First Dryad 
For old times' sake ! 

Vine-Dryad 
If I look in to comfort him ? — Would you? 

Wood-Dove 

Do . . . Do! 

Second Dryad 

Comfort the Wolf? — Ah, hark ! — 

That sharpens his old fangs along my bark? — 

A Wolf that only dreams of bite and 

sup ? — 
That lives to eat things up ! . 
If I were not a tree. 
What hope for me? 

You wildest Vine, you runaway romancer ! 
Creep in and bring an answer ! 

Vine-Dryad 

Hey, rabbit, rabbit, rabbit ! Pretty fel- 
low, — 
Fratello, fratello ! . . . 

\_She catches up a hare from his amhuslo\ 



lo The Wolf of Gubbio 

Nestle and fret? And nestle? Ah, don't worry ! 
I '11 let you go — no need of all this flurry. 
Be off, then, — hurry, hurry ! 
\_Running and laughing^ she throws him softly 
off, left. 
— And I, with you! 

Second Dryad 
Wait, wait ! Perhaps he *11 tell. 

Vine-Dryad 

. . . Farewell ! 
Only a morninor dream. 

Second Dryad 

... A morning lost ! 

First Dryad 
My eyes are dim with frost ! 

- [Th^V^ol'f moans^ full diapason, 'They stop 
and listen^ all. 

Second Dryad 
Hush — hush — 



The Wolf of Gubbio ii 

First Dryad 
Hush! 

Voice of The WoLg 

The world is cold, 
The world is dark. 
Alone I wait ; alone I hark. 
And hear my own heart grieve : 
My sorrow, that no eyes behold; 
My longing, longing, sevenfold. 
That no one would believe, — 
No one would believe. 



First Dryad 
Sorrow ? Believe ! 

Vine-Dryad 

BeHeve? Not I ! \_Going. 

Good-bye ! 

Second Dryad 
Good-bye! . . . Believe? Ahai, who could! 



12 The Wolf of Gubbio 

First Dryad 
\_ascending to her tree] 

Hush! Footsteps . . . yonder in the wood. 
What if he hear ? 

Second Dryad 

He never could : — 
He *s wrapped about with woes ! 

First Dryad 

[gleefully'] 

All, all alone ! — Misunderstood, — 
Ailing r 

Second Dryad 

— Or deaf. Who knows ? 

First Dryad 

Or fallen in a doze. 

\jrbey withdraw into their trees and disappear] 

\A bell sounds soft ly, far down in Gubbio, 
The Wolf appears at the door of his cavCy 
yawning. ^ 

The Wolf 

W-wufF! ' 

\He lifts his nose high in the air] 



The Wolf of Gubbio 13 

Not for fire; and not for war. 
What do they sound the great bell for ? 
Warm, . . . softly, it calls below. 
Calling the men of Gubbio. 

: [l^he bell sounds dimly^ 
I . . . that was master of all the Pack 
To ail, and sulk here, — and look back! 
I, that could rend, and claw, and grip, — 
Sucking my paws, for fellowship !^ 
Puzzling here in my ambuscade. 
What men are, when they 're not afraid ! 
Worrying, — wondering, how 't would feel 
To sit with men, and to share their meal ; 
Talking words, with my bite and sup 
Out of a man-made, earthen cup . . . 

\jrbe bell sounds again'\ 
Talking words, when the north wind blows, 
Round the fire, . . . with nose to nose. 

\j:omplacently\ 
I was a tempest and a woe. 
Unto the men of Gubbio . . . 
Only one thing men do full well ; — 
How did they make . . . the bell? 

\A running is heard through the dry leaves'^ 
. . . W-ufff . . . 

[The Wolf withdraws his head into the cave"] 



14 The Wolf of Gubbio 

\_Enter right, two children. Bimbo and 
BiMBA, breathless, 'They run stumhlingly 
close by The Wolf's cave, in manifest 
terror and out of their way, 

BiMBA 
— Stop, stop ! I have no breath. 

Pine-Dryads 

[^softly from above^ 

... Away .... away. 
[The children look up at trees, but see no- 
'thing. Bimbo takes put his pocket-knife, 
scared and at bay. They huddle together y 
panting out their words, 

BiMBA 

What was that ? — 

Bimbo 

Wind, wind, — Tramontana ! — Come, run, 

run ! 

V 

BiMBA 

[sobbingly^ 

I can't run any more. I can't run any more. 
No, no! not if I saw the Wolf himself . . . 



The Wolf of Gubbio 15 

I could n't run any more ! [^ slight contemptu- 
ous sniff is beard from the cave,~\ Oh, what was 
that ? 

Bimbo 

\_with chattering teeth'\ 

. . . Tramontana ! — Ssh ! — They '11 find 
us. 

BiMBA 

Oh ! oh! — And she called us to find the baby 
. . . she begged us to find the baby. I don't 
dare. I don't dare ! 

Bimbo 

We did n't see any baby. How could we find 
any baby ? What 's that ? — \_A cone falls. 

BiMBA 

[looking up at the tree with a tear-stained smile'] 
Tramontana blew us something down, out of 
the pine-tree ! 

Bimbo 

Come on, come on! . . . We'll catch it at 
home too. Spilling all the firewood. . . . Oh ! 
[6'/c^j.] They 're coming. They 're after us ! 



i6 The Wolf of Gubbio 

BiMBA 

Get under the leaves. — Get under the leaves! 
And if he comes near, we '11 make-believe we 're 
rabbits. — Get under the leaves ! 

[They burrow head-first under the leaves. 
Enter up rights on the path, Brother 
Juniper, a simple peasant Friar Minor, — 
with a look of constant anxiety illuynined 
by beaming good will. He leads a donkey 
laden with faggots ; and he is followed by 
Brother Leo, slim and young. Brother 
r Juniper turns towards the rustling leaves, 
l^he burrowing children are wild with 
terror, - 

BiMBA 

\in a little high voice as he approaches^ 

Oh, please . . . I *m only a rabbit . . . 
Oh, Messer Robber. ... It is n't anything 
but a fox, a . . . a little fox ... a little, little 
fox! 

Juniper 
^calling back to Leo as he approaches'^ 

Fra Leo, Fra Leo, — come here, for love of 
Our Lady ! I have found a heap of leaves that 



The Wo lf of Gubbio 17 

is bewitched; and calling out, — how it is now 
a fox, and now a rabbit, . . . and now, it is 
[BiMBA crawls out gladly] a child, — a very- 
child, a woman-child, — as I am Brother Juniper, 
the silly plaything of the blessed saints ! 

Leo 
\jweetly to her\ 

Give thee peace, little child. Was this the sor- 
rowing we heard ? [Bimbo crawls out. 

Juniper 

Another ! And is it a rabbit enchanted you 
are, or a boy bewitched, in God's name ? And 
whence was the crying ? 

BiMBA 

O Brother Juniper, take us home, come with US 
— quick, quick ! We thought you were Men. 

Bimbo 
Robbers ! 

Juniper and Leo 
— Robbers ? — {Pointing back. 



i8 The Wolf of Gubbio 

BiMBA 

We came all the way from Gubbio — 

Bimbo 

Gathering wood. Blessed Francis was coming 
to Gubbio. 

BiMBA 

— This day ! to make the Christmas feast for 
us. — And we went farther and farther. And we 
heard a crying — 

' . Bimbo 

— And there was a woman — 

BiMBA 

— Striving with a man — and calling out to 
us to find the Baby. 

Bimbo 

We did n*t see any baby. . . . 

BiMBA 

— And we did n't dare. And she called to us 
.'. . how it was under a juniper-tree. " 



The Wolf of Gubbio 19 

Bimbo 

— No, an olive-tree. 

BiMBA 

— No, a juniper-tree. But we durst n*t — - 
. . . we were frightened. . . . We ran . . . 

\_Shivering, 
[Leo unbinds his hood and -puts it on the 
little girl. 

Bimbo 

Of course we ran ! And we must run home 
now. There 's the way. [Pointing left. 

Leo 
Alas, poor woman! 'Twas her crying, then. 

BiMBA 

Oh, please to take us home! 

Leo 
Yea, little doves, that will we. 

Juniper 

Even to Gubbio we are all bent this day, to 
make ready the birthday feast for Our Lord's 



20 The Wolf of Gubbio 

poor, and the blessed little father Francis is 
coming fast the way of Monte Subasio. 

Children 
[dancing] 

Little Poor Man, — Little Poor Man! 

BiMBA 

Is he coming truly? — All this long way in 
the cold ? — • 

Leo 
Yea, little dove, his heart will warm the wind. 

Bimbo 

[exdledly gazing at the donkey] 
Eh! Nicolo never lent you Pantaleone! . . . 

BiMBA 

No, it's the bishop's ass! The bishop's ass! 
H-e sent it for blessed Francis I 

Leo 

But blessed Francis goes afoot, all through 

the world. Moreover, this being the Holy Eve, 

' it ought, as he says, to be a time of gladness for 



The Wolf of Gubbio 21 

Brother Ass, — with all God's poor, — and with 
all God's creatures on two legs, or three or four! 

Juniper 

[beating his breast suddenly^ 

Mea culpa^ what a rogue am I ! . . . \He 
hastens to the ass and untackles the fire- 
wood^ That set but now this burden on ray- 
brother ! Who should go freely, honorably, . . 
even leaping as it were with holy exultation. . 
(Light down, light down. Brother Wood !) — 
Yet this once, [cooingly to the ass^ think it no 
burden, but a kindness, brother, to take this 
little one upon you, a child as it were, and 
for sake of the Holy Child ! 

\^akes the wood upon his back, Fra Leo 
helping, 'They beckon the children, 

Leo 

Yea, let us find the poor soul that fell among 
thieves. 

[Turning right'] 

Bimbo 
No, this way, this way! 



22 The Wolf of Gubbio 

Juniper 

— And her babe that she left in jeopardy as 
it were. . . . This winter day ! . . . and the 
wind . . . And the wolves .... 

Bimbo and Bimba 

Wolves I 

Leo 

Which way said she ? 

[ 'J'he children look at each other guiltily ^ then 
'point off, left, 

r 

Juniper 

[gladly^. 

The homeward way ? — Come, we will search 
as we go! 

[The Brothers lift Bimba on the ass, and 
they all go out, left, on the bridle-path to 
Gubbio. 
The Wolf reappears at the door of his 
cave and sniffs tentatively in the direction 
pointed out by the children. 

The Wolf 
Hmph! 

Wanted to tell ... but did n*t dare. 



The Wolf of Gubbio 23 

The little whelps ! — No baby there. 

[^Tawns and shuffles back in his cave: lies 
down with his nose out^ horedly. 

The world goes by. 

The world goes by; 

Forgotten in my lair I lie. 

No, not forgotten ; — down below, 

I am a name in Gubbio ; 

I am a dread; though here apart 

I nurse the thorn that *s in my heart, 

Watching the snows that melt, and drip ; 

Licking my paws, for fellowship ! 

Wondering what if a man came by. 

To stand, to face me, eye for an eye; 

Knifeless, fearless — ? 

What would he do ? 

Ah, — such a man must be. But who? 

\He yawns prodigiously ; starts up and gives 
a low growl ; lies down^ disappointed^ nose 
on his paws. His subsiding grunts speak 
boredom and disgust. 

Bah ! The sound ... of the smell that 

grieves : — 
Hope, betrayed by a cynic nose! 
Just when an old heart half believes . . . 



24 The Wolf of Gubbio 

Same old, mouldy odor . . . of thieves! 
— May as well doze. 

[^Enter up^ cautiously, Vecchio Vecchio, 
a tattered but unctuous optimist, and 
Grillo, lean and bitter, with a cloak in 
bis hands, 

Vecchio Vecchio 

Come along, Snail ! 

Grillo 

r 

Go along, Ox. — Do you look to go shares 
on my takings, Lie- Abed-Late ? Look at me ; 
he had the muscle of a copper-smith, that fel- 
low. I have got a contortion of the spleen, 
pitching him over the cliff! 

Vecchio Vecchio 

Gathering cones, were they ? Sooth, they '11 
be gathering up the bones of him, white as coral, 
next spring, when the snow in the gorge is 
melted. — Come, what catch, my limber little 
fisherman? 

[Grasping his arm~\ 



The Wolf of Gubbio 25 

Grillo 

Softly, Bishop ! — And a man of his size, groan- 
ing and cursing about his wife and the 'Baby, 
baby, baby!* . . . Asif I were out child-napping. 
[ T^hey come down to the rock over The Wolf, 
and cut along the lining of the cloak to- 
gether, 

Vecchio Vecchio 

And the wife, while I searched her, scream- 
ing to the fowls of the air to save the ' Baby, 
baby — baby ! ' — And all the while, no man re- 
quired the baby . . . only this poor pittance, 
or saving, — or inheritance . . Where is it, 
Sheepshead? sneeze out, I say! 

Grillo 

\with a wry face, unfolding a few coins and a 

small packet~\ 

Here was a witless woman. With all her 
struggle and cawing to get away, yielding up her 
husband to be thrown off the mountain — and 
her babe mislaid under a tree she will never 
find again, — she clings to the cloak; and we 
cling too. \JVith disgust. 1 Her all-in-all, — her 



26 The Wolf of Gubbio 

treasury ! . . A little bread, less cheese . . . and 
an image of a woman and a baby. 
\_He hastily crosses himself on second thought'^ 

Vecchio Vecchio 

No matter; this snack will stay us. [Sniffing 
at it.l Peccorino ! The fourth time this week. 
Bah, — when we have but the coat of that noble- 
man of France we look to entertain — \_looking 
off left with concentrated purpose~\ that nobleman 
of France who keeps us waiting, — we shall dine, 

r 

Grillo 

Per Bacco ! 'Tis a rare snail. If he go another 

way? 

Vecchio Vecchio 

There is no other way, for a bridle-path ! 

\_^hey scramble upon The Wolf*s rocky 

and eat their cheese, watching the path 

alertly. Vecchio Vecchio lifts up the 

cloak, sniggeringly , and puts it round his 

shoulders. 

Take off thine evil eye from my rich garment ! 

'Twas folly to waste us on these small fry, these 



The Wolf of Gubbio 27 

creatures of Poverty, . . . hee — hee ! — The 
world's failures. — Consider the man ; — what a 
man ! Base victim of his own unthrift. Puts all 
his coin in his wife's hood and loses it; ho — ho! 
And the woman, lean victim of her own unthrift! 
Why did she not lay up her hoardings in store 
of flocks or geese ? Sews it all in her cloak 
for a journey. — Wastrel, to journey at all! Im- 
provident from birth ! With a young babe, for- 
sooth; flaunting the swaddled creature to all 
the winds! — Mislays it under a juniper-tree, 
— hee — hee ! A birthday gift for the Wolf of 
Gubbio ! 

[The Wolf's head appears suddenly, at 
the opening of his cave. 'The thieves, sit- 
ting above him vis-a-vis, do not perceive it. 
He sniffs long and earnestly from up centre, 
to the right as they talk, and listens with a 
growing interest evident in his red tongue 
and side-glances. 
Go to ; were it not for the chance of its waul- 
ing, I would seek out that babe, and bring it up 
in the fear of folly ! Ho — ho! How long must 
we suflfer by this swarm of babes? How is the 
noble world shamed by this spawning, this seeth- 
ing, this weltering of ill-conditioned babes, like 



28 The Wolf of Gubbio 

. . . cheese-mites; children of fools; — pale vic- 
tims of their own unthrift! But all's well, or 
I am no philosopher. All 's well : — I had it of 
a learned man I met . . on the road to Padua. 

Grillo 

[wilb intense bitterness'] 
All 's well ? — All 's rotten : look at me ! 

Vecchio Vecchio 

' \_waving him aside] 

The woman finds her way back ; the better for 
her. — Or, she finds it not; the better for her 
kindred. — The jn an is free to carve his path- 
way in the world. — \_Flourishing his knife over 
the cheese,] 

Grillo 

\_with his mouth full] 
— If he live to find it. 

Vecchio Vecchio 
\his eyes rolled up, piously] 

Freed of his Lawful Encumbrance. — And 
what more notable goad to valor and industry 
than the goad of Poverty ? — As the lord bishop 



♦« 



The Wolf of Gubbio 29 

was telling you at Foligno, while you fished 
for his purse — 

Grillo 
(Ugh! — my rotten luck.) 

Vecchio Vecchio 

' The goad of Poverty, scourging the slothful 
and pricking on the poor.' 

Grillo 
\_with venom'] 

Poverty ? . . . Old Cheese, look at me, I tell 
you, look at me ! 

Vecchio Vecchio 

I look, I look, and I repeat. Wastrels all, 
scatterlings, — locusts ! Fie upon thee to devour 
thy cheese. Put by, put by, for a rainy day, — 
while I eat mine, of a chilly ! Go to, thou ravening 
locust ! Mark you this (I had it of a doctor I 
met . . on the road to Bologna) : — Nothing 
will keep you idlers at home, save the fear of the 
Wolf at the door. Now am I a scholar or — 
[The Wolf scenes something, and snaps his 
jaws suddenly. 



30 The Wolf of Gubbio 

Grillo 

Hist ! What was that? 

\_He rises and turns towards the bridle-path. 
The Wolf listens to their talk with 
growing animation, 

Vecchio Vecchio 

Thou mettlesome thoroughbred ! — Peace, 
peace. Benedicite ! Requies-s-scat ! . . . To 
cqntinue: — the babe is lost; one less in a 
crowded world. 

Grillo 

Nay, go on. Bishop. Thou hast left the babe 
with the Wolf of Gubbio. . . . Hee — hee — hee! 
The Wolf will keep him warm 

Vecchio Vecchio 

Thou hast a ribald fancyand a darkened mind. 
What wolf, finding a babe in the forest of a 
winter eve, would swallow it down, without a 
wash of wine? Soto misprize it? Never! Nay, 
devour an orphan babe ? He would fetch the 
creature home, to show him gratitude; for 
why else does a man fetch anything home? — 



«• 



The Wolf of Gubbio 31 

\unctuously'\ but for something to love him; to 
be the prop of his declining years ! 

Grillo 

— Clothe it with skins! Teach it Wolf's 
Latin — 

Vecchio Vecchio . 

And bring it up godly, — to be a brown friar, 
absolve him of his sins, and sing masses for his 
departing soul ! 

[The Wolf, with a last decisive sniff high 
in airy darts out noiselessly^ right. 

Both 
What was that ? Hist ! 

Grillo 
'T was a scantling in the leaves . . . 

Vecchio Vecchio 

A rabbit? . . [Looking up."] The day's 
grown milder. [Listening. 

Grillo 

Nay, it *s there now. [Pointing left.'] What 
if he be not alone? . . . My rotten luck! 



32 The Wolf of Gubbio 
Vecchio Vecchio 

Chut ! — What 's a man or two ? You heard 
him say it with his own mouth, in the court- 
yard at FoHgno, — as we lay behind the wall, 
... he would go without escort ? And his 
men-at-arms were to fall away? — Ih, ih ! An 
he keep us waiting longer . . . 

\jrhey go upy to look down the hridle-pathy 
and steal to the right on tiptoe^ lost to 
sight for the moment. 
Reenter down, right. The Wolf in haste, 
, with a bundle like a swaddled Babe in his 
teeth. He stops, somewhat at a loss, — puts 
it down among the pine-needles, centre, 
and goes up on the trail of the two thieves, 
to reconnoitre. 
The Pine-Dryads unfold from their trees, 
and lean down, right and left, their long 
arms almost touching as they droop over the 
Baby with curiosity and cherishing delight; 
then watchful looks towards The Wolf. 
Appears on the edge of the cliff again. The 
Vine-Dryad, reassuring them with a ges- 
ture of mirth and wonder , pointing to The 
Wolf, who is watching the thieves in 
their covert. 



\^ 



The Wolf of Gubbio 33 

The Wolf 

WufF— 

[^He wags bis tail as he looks at the Baby^ 
and then up^ right. The Dryads with- 
draw slowly into the trees. The Wolf 
runs down, — noses the Babe gently, gets 
it into his teeth again bundle-wise, and 
creeps into his cave. 
He is seen guardant, his head out, but with- 
drawn as the two thieves reappear, look- 
ing back for their prey. A soft sound 
comes from the cave. 

Grillo 

\_startled\ 
Hist!-^ 

As I 'm a lean sinner, I could swear I heard a 

sound, as it were of a babe, — a swaddled babe ! 

Vecchio Vecchio 

\recovering himself ~\ 

A swaddled babe ! Thou heardst a sound as 
of a swaddled babe, with auburn locks, lying 
under a tree that was planted the year of the 
death of King Pepin ! 



34 The Wolf of Gubbio 

Grillo 

What was it? — If it be the babe, — we Ve 
missed our way; we've rounded on ourselves. 
We left the woman — \_Pointing back, right. 

Vecchio Vecchio 

Peace, dolt! Thou heardst a rabbit calling 
thee grandmother. 

Grillo 

— If it be the babe, we are lost through its 
wauling! 

Vecchio Vecchio 

If it be a babe, and if we lag, and if it 
waul, and if we be lost, — we be lost through 
thy IfF-ings and What-ings, — thou beardless 
son of an earth-worm. \^Both listen, right. 

— Here he comes, Silver-Trappings ! here he 
conies, with his miniver edgings. Quick — to 
work J 

\jrhey run with sudden stealth, to conceal 
themselves behind the trees up right and 
left, with knives drawn. 

Hoof-beats are heard, of horses walked gently 



The Wolf of Gubbio 35 

on the mountain-path ; a jingling of trap- 
pings. 
^ ^he watchers^ with faces turned suddenly to 
deadly rage and disappointment^ steal far- 
ther down front to concealment^ looking 
back, 

Grillo 

Death of my life ! Six men-at-arms. ' 

Vecchio Vecchio 

Blast him, — blast him, the flea of fortune! 
Who and what is he ? 

\frhe knights are seen to ride along behind 
the pine-trees at back. In the centre^ up^ 
Louis of France reins his horse and 
leans from the saddle with boyish eagerness. 
He is a young and comely man, clothed 
with knightly richness, but bare-headed. 

Louis 

Look, there lies Gubbio ! When we shall come 
To yonder bridge, I go afoot. [^To one.'] . . . Rene, 
Have by the pilgrim robes that I must wear ; 

\fro the others] \ 
And when we pass the wall, — no sign from 
you. 



36 The Wolf of Gubbio 

Think of that holy man I go to meet. 
The blessed Francis ! . . . and of heaven's high 
King,— 

[They bare their heads'] 
How lowly to this world he came alone, 
A naked Babe. Think ye, within your minds. 
As we ride on. For we be pilgrims all 
Together, on this Birthday of my Lord, 
To keep His feast with holy Poverty. — 
Yea, and to pray, as men that be in need, 
T'he Little Poor Man for some blessedness. 
The Little Poor Man whom we go to seek ! 

r 

And when I shall dismount, then do you all 
Follow me, at a distance. . Stay me not. 
Whatever thing it pleasure me to do. 
Ride on, Sirs. 
\_The riders pass out left on the path to Gubbio~\ 

Grillo 

Would you not take him for a vagrom preach- 
ing friar? Curled lap-dog! He journeys like 
the king of France home from the crusades ! 
' Ride on. Sirs ! ' And a pious dog would I be 
too, if preaching could line my coat with vair and 
my belly with partridge pies ! ^ Follow me at a 
distance, gentlemen ! * 



The Wolf of Gubbio 37 
Vecchio Vecchio 

Pish ! If they follow him at a distance as he said, 
— we shall have the coat, and thevair, with the 
partridge pies to follow ! And a ' little poor man, 
a little poor man,* he longed to meet ? — Ih^ ib, — 
so do not I! — Hold thy tongue; and hurry 
thy heels. For we '11 follow him on, to Gubbio. 

Grillo 
— Pilgrims all, to Gubbio I 

Vecchio Vecchio 

And mark the inn that he lies at. — Follow 
you ' at a distance,' pretty Sir ! Follow you at a 
distance ! 

\jrhey start after, with venomous looks , 
Grillo first, who stops and waves back 
Vecchio Vecchio, cautioning, 
A mans voice is heard singing off, right ; 
O Brother Sun ... 
All-folding Sight ! 

[The Wolf, at the door of his cave, starts 
upy with sudden eagerness. 

Grillo 
,What fool is this ? 



38 The Wolf of Gubbio 
Vecchio Vecchio 

Some wandering simpleton . . . calling to all 

the winds to come and pluck him. — Pluck him 

we will ; he '11 never cry out ! — I 'm cold. 

[Tbey stand ready, 'The singing comes nearer] 

[The Wolf trembles with excitement and 

creeps outy watching also. 

The Voice of Francis 

, O Brother Sun ! 

All-folding Sight, 
• Lo, where I sing along the dust ! 
Even a little one. 
Yea, a wayside thing 
Sunlight makes to sing, as he must! 
All we are minstrels of thy King : 
Maker of thy might. 
Pouring from above : — 
O Light of Light, 
O Love of Love ! 

\_Enter St. Francis, shining with gladness, 
The thieves run to seize him, — The 
Wolf utters a furious snarl, 

They loose St. Francis, and turn to see 
The Wolf crouching, ready to spring. 



o 



The Wolf of Gubbio 39 

Vecchio Vecchio and Grillo 
\mad with fear\ 

The Wolf of Gubbio! —The Wolf of Gub- 
bio! \T^hey rush out^ leff\ 
[St. Francis stretches out his arms in greeting] 

Francis 
. . . Welcome, Brother Wolf! 

[The Wolf still crouching looks at him. 
A moment of silence. 

The Wolf 
Brother . . . you called me ? 

Francis 

Even so. 

The Wolf 
And Wolf? — 

Francis 
Yea, . . . truly. 

The Wolf 

Then you know. 
Why are you not dismayed? . . . 



40 The Wolf of Gubbio 

Francis 

At thee? 
\^He spreads his arms wide, with a gesture 
of sweet mirth. 
Why art not thou . . . afraid oi me? 

The Wolf 

\with nose abased'^ 

You have heard them . . . Now you know 

All. — You heard them say my name. 

Soothj it had a bitter fame, 

Lbng ago. 

I am . . . the Wolf of Gubbio. 

There is no hiore to say. 

Francis 

Thou he? 
Long, — long have I looked for thee. 

The Wolf 
Fair Sir, have pity on my shame. 

Francis 

Shame? — Then you shall tell it me. 
Nay, you shall not be afraid. 



The Wolf of Gubbio 41 

What am I for? — Your Poverello 
Out of Assisi, a low little fellow ! 
These ears of mine were only made 
To hear things sorrowful and sore. 

Come, you shall tell me more. 
\_He comes down. The Wolf stays between 

Francis and the opening to the lair. 

The Wolf 

Wolf I am, from last to first. 
Ah, but 'Wolf is not the worst. 
. . . No, I am accurst, j 

Francis 

\_with childlike delight"] 

Hearken here; and then believe. 
Dost thou know, this Holy Eve, 
How the mouth of Brother Ox, 
And the ass, — and all the flocks, — 
Speak His praise, with one accord. 

Who is made our Lord? 
Lord of thee and me, and all ; 
Kings that sit within the hall, — 
Lambs that bleat within the fold ; 
Yea, and men and wolves that call 
In the cold ! 



42 The Wolf of Gubbio 

Brother, of thy courtesy. 
Lay thy burden here on me ; 
Give me leave to ease thy smart ; 
Shew me all thy heart. 
\_He lifts one of TheWoly's paws in his hands'^ 

The Wolf 

Oh, what is it? What is waking 
Here in my old hide ? 
Sir, my strength is breaking . . / 
With my pride. 

'Is it the noon-day, maybe? — No, 
It must be music, ails me so. 
It 's in my ears. — It warps my gait. 
I' . . . can't walk straight. 

Francis 
Tell me thy burden. 

The Wolf 

\jhamedly\ 

If I can. 

I long ... I long to be a Man. 
....... 

And here am I, a Wolf, behold! 

The world's the world. — 



The Wolf of Gubbio 43 

And it is cold. 

And I am old. 

Francis 
Brother, I know. 

The Wolf 
[^trying to recover his self-possession\ 

Well, you would hear. — I told you so ! 
I never thought, when life began. 
That one could wish to be a Man. 
But — one by one, the Pack died out; — 
And nothing much to think about. 
Grinding your teeth on one idea; 
And little passing here . . . 
And sometimes we can hear it well, — 
When the wind *s right . . , that Bell. 

So; I have told you. Yet, in spite 
Of dreaming on, night after night, — 
I Ve always found, the frosty days 
Brought back my wolfish ways. . . . 
Sometimes a sheep, — even a cow. 
Made me forget, — and break my vow. 
Sometimes . . . [Breaks off.~\ WfF . . 
Not that I want for bite and sup ! 

[Proudly~\ 
I . . . couldn't keep it up. 



44 The Wolf of Gubbio 

Then after all, up here again. 

Alone and moping in my den . . . 

\_He steals a guilty look towards it, and 
searches the face of St. FRANCis/br knowl- 
edge; then turns his back on his den reso- 
lutely and goes on. 

I longed to be with Men ; 

To be a Man, as others are: — 

No, no, — I don't mean similar. 

I Ve never seen nor yet heard tell 

Much good of men, — but, well, ; 

Maybe some glamour of romance. 

For all this — circumstance; ... 
\_Looking round at his tail~\ 

.... I 'd simply like the chance ! 

Francis 

Ah, Brother mine, a Wolf thou wert 
To spread dismay ! 

Was it not to their mischief and their hurt 
To xome thy way ? 

The Wolf 
[ meditating^ 
Yea. 



The Wolf of Gubbio 45 

Francis 
Thy cruelties were more than men could say — 

The Wolf 
. . , Yea. 

Francis 
To make of thee, thyself, this castaway. 



] The Wolf 
'■^ [acquiescent'] 



Hm-hm, 



Francis 

Ah, dear my Brother, for this cause 
Thy hands keep on their savage claws ; 
And splendor of thy furry hide 
Keeps hot thy heart of wolfish pride. 
Yea, but thine own heart after all 

Hath made thee thrall : 
Keeps thee in pain, bites in on thee 
With the sharp tooth of misery. 

The Wolf 

Thou sayest all. 



46 The Wolf of Gubbio 

Francis 
Yea, Brother, have I understood ? 

The Wolf 
I was longing ... to be good. 

Francis 

[blithely'] 

Longing lights the lovely fire ; 
Longing brings thee still no nigher 
To thy heart's desire. 
Work, and work ; and thou shalt know. 
Come ! 

The Wolf 

, . . But where? 

' Francis 

To Gubbio ! 
[The Wolf starts up ; then crouches again 
and steals a furtive look at his rock con- 
sidering whether he shall telL 
[Buoyantly] 
Where thy plunders stripped thee first ; 
Where thy teeth have done their worst. 

The Wolf 
Oh, I am accurst, — accurst. 



The Wolf of Gubbio 47 

Francis 
Is there a burden left thee, say ? 

The Wolf 

[evading the query] 
Let me be with thee, for one day ! 

Ask no more . . . Ah, if you knew, 
Would you not hate me? — even you! 

Francis 

Hate thee, — I ? Ah, Brother, see ! 

And do thou cry out on me ; 

A wolf, — a low and little one ! 

Regard the evil I have done : — 

[He points earnestly to a scrap of fox-skin 
sewn upon the breast of his habit ^ and goes 
on with pleading eagerness, while The 
Wolf sniffs up and down the patch. 

This bit of fox-fur, — sniff ! — behold ! 

And more, and larger, sewn within. 

To warm my sorry little skin 

Against the winter cold ! . . . 

When Brother Fox was found undone, 

I, like a very heathen Hun, 



48 The Wolf of Gubbio 

Suffered a portion of his fur 
To make my bones the happier ! 
Yea, of my self-love, so I did ; 
And this I wear, as thou wilt guess 
To show all men my wolfishness. 
And not to keep it hid ! 

[The Wolf struggles with his conscience; 
and encourages himself with his tail, 

Francis 

To Gubbio, come ! 

\A sound of running water begins to he 
heard; sunlight steals through the tree- 
trunks and warms the sky to gold. 

The Wolf 
They hate me. 

Francis 

Wilt thou earn 
A man^s own peace ? Then work, and learn ! 
Back to the world ; and there make good 
All thou hast dreamed of brotherhood. 
- Hope and lose and hope again, 
And remember, and forget, 



The Wolf of Gubbio 49 

With us all ; for men are men, 
But not brothers; — no, not yet. 

The Wolf 

Not brothers yetP Then what 's the game? 
Surely Men were all the same 

. . . Till you came. 

Francis 
In this twilight of thy wood ! — 

The Wolf 

I was longing ... to be good. 

[Looking back at his den\ 

Francis 

\Joyously\ 

Work, with each of thy four paws. 
Mind thee what thy teeth and claws ' 
Tore from all these village-folk ; — 
Homes that trembled ; hearts that broke. 
Work, for those thou hast beguiled ; — 
Left without or chick or child ! 

[The Wolf y?^//d'«^ himself suddenly^ 



50 The Wolf of Gub'bio 

The Wolf 
But they hate me. . . . • 

Francis 

Even so. 
Come again to Gubbio. 

The Wolf 
How can any gladness be? 

Francis 

r 

Thou shalt see. 

The Wolf 
, Can you think, and still say Go ? 

# ■ 

Francis 

\jmilingly'\ 
. Nay, but Come ; — and come with me ! 

The Wolf 

[^rising giddily'] 

Why ... is the snow . . . melting along the 
furrows ? 

Is it spring? 



The Wolf of Gubbio 51 

Why ... do the hares . . . look out from 
their hutches and burrows ? 
Listening? 

Francis 

Love in the world it is, that makes all these 

Awake and warm : — 
Love walking in the world, that all the trees 

Forget the storm. 

The Wolf 

Why are the vines astir that were forsaken ? 

Can it be spring? 
Why is the brook awake? — I heard it waken. 

Francis 

And it will sing ! 
\_seeing The Wolf ba/t] 
Is there something left behind ? 
Rankling thorn? — Or prick of mind? — 
Shall we two beHeve each other? 

The Wolf 

[^leaping about him with dog-like gaiety^ 
Give the word. I will obey ! 



52 The Wolf of Gubbio 

Francis 

Come with me. — Here lies the way. 

Wolf, my Brother ! 

\^He goes radiantly up to the bridle-path and 
looks down at Gubbio, The Dryads lean 
from the trees softly : they point towards 
The Wolf's den with accusing looks. 

The Wolf, avoiding their eyes ^ drags his tail 

and walks heavily after the Saint , stopping 

for a last hangdog glance at the cave where 

' the Baby lies hidden. As Francis turns^ 
he waves his tail, and prances aftery 
with every sign of high spirits, j 

The Wolf 
'\looking back'] 
Wf! But shall I ? —Would he ? ... No ! 

Francis 
[^turning"] 
Pilgrims all, — to Gubbio] 

\jrhey go out together on the path to Gubbio ; 
a sudden troop of wild doves aftery like a 
flurry of snow. 



The Wolf of Gubbio 53 

'The scene fills with the sound of running 
water and new-wakening trees, The bird- 
voices grow to a chorus. 

Birds 

San Francesco 1 
San Francesco I 

— jy As si si ! 

— D'Jssisi ! 

— D'Assisi ! 



Curtain 



Act II 



'The Little Poor Man smiled at me ; 

His eyes were like the sun. 
And down the years, like sunlit tears ^ 

The pouring light did run I 



* * * 



Act II 

Scene : A market-place in Guhhio : bright after- 
noon. Right and left^ uniform and opposite 
each other ^ are stone arcades shading the little 
house fronts^ with humble wares hanging outy 
and a few caged blackbirds and pigeons, 

Down, left, nearest the spectators, is The Fur- 
rier's ; next. The Dyer's. Down, right. 
The Potter's booth and his wheel; then Old 
Lucrezia's doorway. Front, left and right, 
their walls turn the corners, and show with- 
ered leaves hanging on the grape-vines, and 
weeds in the stone crevices of the walled by- 
way. In the wall to the left, there is a tiny 
alcove-shrine high up, with a dim terra-cotta 
relief of the Virgin and Child, 

At the back, a wide arch crosses the scene, — 
running into a buttressed wall with a foun- 
tain, right. Left, it joins a flight of un- 
even stone steps, that lead, after the manner 
of Italian hill-towns, to an upper street; 
of which there is visible only a glimpse of 



58 The Wolf of Gubbio 

blue sky y — Nicolo's inn-door^ lefty and a 
buttress of the Duomoy right, 'The archway 
makes a viaduct over the market-place. 

Under the archway is a glimpse of the road, 
sprinkled with sun and shade ; and to the lefty 
directly beneath ity a stable-door. 

At rise of the curtain, the people are busied in 
their doorways {with the exception of 'Ni- 
coLO the inn-keeper) ; Lucia and other girls 
are filling their copper water-jars at the foun- 
tain by the archway. 

Brother Juniper comes down the steps from 
the upper square, gently leading Assunta, 
— a worn. Madonna-like young peasant y 
poorly clady spent with grief and exhaustion. 

Juniper 

TAKE heart, poor soul, take heart ! . . . 
And even as Our Lady came to her 
refuge this day, riding lowly upon an 
ass, — take comfort and be gently led, so. . . 
even by me who am less than an ass, — Brother 
Juniper, a fool among the brothers. 

\The people hasten towards him with eager 
greetings, and stand still on recognizing 
Assunta. 



The Wolf of Gubbio 59 

The People of Gubbio 

— Brother Juniper, Brother Juniper ! 

— Are you here at last ? 

— Where 's the holy Francis ? 
— And^who is this? 

[AssuNTA takes her hands from her eyes and 
looks through them^ not at tbeniy stark 
with grief. 

The Dyer's Wife 

The woman of Foligno, back again ! — What 
ever befell you? 

The Furrier's Wife 

— With your eyes as great as an owl's by 
daytime, — 

Lucia 

— And your man, where 's he? And the 
babe? 

Juniper 

Ah, her man, — her babe! \JVarning them, 
with a gesture of pity."] A sorry tale this, 
sweet brothers . . . And no song for her to 
sing you. Look you, the poor soul is sore spent 



6o The Wolf of Gubbio 

and out of measure full of woe; and beyond 
that, oppressed, with singular great sorrow. 

[yf clatter of hoofs ^ and the donkey appears 
under the archway^ led by Brother Leo, 
who carries the firewood on his back, while 
BiMBA and Bimbo ride upon the donkey, 
'The women go to meet them. 

The Dyer's Wife 

Holy Mother ! What do I see ? The children 
riding home on the lord bishop's ass that he 
sent, for holy Francis! — Oh where have you 
been ? Where have you been ? And I that had 
forgotten you all the morning, and what you 
were sent to fetch ! — Light down, light down 
off the lord bishop's ass, — the two little wasps 
that you are ! , . 

Leo 
Have patience, lady. 

Bimbo and Bimba 

— We lost the faggots! 
— We heard a thief. — 
' — We met a robber I 



The Wo lf of Gubbio 6i 

Women 
A thief, — a robber ! 

BiMBA 

We heard a loud crying; so we ran — 

Bimbo 
But we turned to look — 

BiMBA and Bimbo 
\j)ointing to Assunta] 

And it was she — 

BiMBA 

— And an ugly man after her. So we ran 
away and hid from the noise. And darling 
Brother Juniper came by and found us ; and 
Brother Leo — 

[Assunta sits down on the edge of the foun- 
tain and shuts her eyes, leaning against 
the stone archway, heedless of the gossips- 

Juniper 

Even so, little sheep. And her too we found, 
[^looking at Assunta] coming away out of the 
woods to Gubbio, — spent and fainting. But 



62 The Wolf of Gubbio 

the babe ... we sought for, even in the place 
where she had laid it for safe-keeping, under a 
certain tree; the babe we sought for . . . and 
found not. 

[Brother Leo waters the ass at the foun- 
tain, regarding As sunt a with pity. 
Enter above at the top of the steps, Nicolo, 
a robust and voluble man of Gubbio. 

Nicolo 
» \_descending\ 

— The bishop's ass ! 

[Brother Leo leads the ass off under the 
archway, and returns. 

The People 

\_still staring at Assunta] 

— Found not ? 

— Why, then it is lost ! 

— It may be stolen, — stolen by witches. 
'— Dead of the cold ! 

— Eaten of wolves! 

[Assunta, hearing, shudder s'\ 

Leo 
Ah, Messer Nicolo, you are the one to help 



The Wolf of Gubbio 63 

us. Take her in, for the love of Our Lady. She 
is perishing of sorrow; — her man gone, her 
babe — 

Bimbo 

No, he is n't the one, Nicolo is n't, — not he! 

BiMBA 

— For she was telling us as she came, how he 
would n't let them stay over the feast of the 
blessed Nativity ; for they had n't brought 
enough money with them to last, and she 
could n't walk all the way to Arezzo. 

Nicolo 

Ah, you magpies ! What will you, what will 
you ? — Tell not this to holy Francis ! Was I 
not gciing, this hour, this minute, what you 
will, to lay before holy Francis all that I have 
and more? — The moment I should behold 
him coming upon the lord bishop's ass ? — As 
to the woman, what will you ? Did she not 
come here three days back, and her man 
along with her, too ? — A potter, he said, — 
of Foligno ! 



64 The Wolf of Gubbio 

' The Potter 

[wi^b rancor unspeakable^ 

Ah, ah, Foligno ! — FolignOy Fossato, Spello ? 
— Pah! 

The Furrier's Wife 

— And thinking to come to Arezzo for the 
holy season, she with a babe of days in her arms ! 

The Dyer's Wife 

— Yes, we all saw it ! What a thing ! Starting 
to walk all the way to Arezzo with the babe, 
and yet unable. Could we help it that she was 
a weakling ? 

NiCOLO 

— Could we help it that she had not where- 
with to pay ? Marry, why did they set out to 
walk, then, if they could n't walk ? 

Leo 

Brother, for holy Charity, you are the host 
of this place. .Take her back to the inn ; and let 
us search till we find . . . that which is lost. 

NiCOLO 

But, indeed, Fra Leo, there is no room at the 



%• 



The Wolf of Gubbio 65 

inn; no room, whatever, in reason, at all; no- 
wise, — none, none ! \JVith copious indignation.'] 
Have I not told you all? And did I not, when 
I sent them off, tell both the two and the babe 
likewise ? And am I not telling you again ? — 
How I was bidden to make all room and prep- 
aration for a great nobleman out of France, who 
is coming this day, and maybe this hour, with 
his six gentlemen, to sup and to stop and to lie 
here this night, and who can tell how long after ? 

Lucia 

It's the simple truth we are telling. Six gen- 
tlemen with him. — I go to bring fresh water 
now with my own hands. 

NiCOLO 

We have no room for beggars . . . Nor for 
any potter from Foligno ; nor for his wife ; nor 
to crown all, a swaddled creature of days! waul- 
ing day and night ! — For what else would it 
be doing, if I let it stay by me ? — 

Lucia 

\_placidly~\ 
— The simple truth. 



66 The Wolf of Gubbio 

Leo 
[/o Assunta] 

Come, my Sister, thou shalt not go away. 
Nay, if the inn be full, — even so as it was 
when Our Lady came to Bethlehem, — there 
shall be some place yet. Think no scorn to 
rest thee even in a shed, — an if there be a 
shed . . . 

NiCOLO 

[wifb equal heat pointing up under the arch"] 

An if there be a shed ! — There is a very fine 
shed indeed ; warm as a hay-field and safe as 
the Duomo. And an ox the finest in Umbria ; — 
he cannot get his horns out of the door without 
goring any that come down by the steps ! Hay ? 
— the finest of any : — take care not to tread 
it down! And mind you tell the holy Francis 
this : — I make you free of the shed, free as air 
of the shed ; so long as you tread not down the 
hay... ... 

The Dyer's Wife 

There now, and it is a snug place too, tho* 
Nicolo says it. 

The Dyer 

As for his donkey, — 



o 



The Wolf of Gubbio 67 

The Furrier 

— ^Pantaleone ! * 

NrcoLo 

— What of him ? What of him ? 

The Dyer 

He is the most marvellous donkey that 
walks without wings 1 

NlCQLO 

So he is ! So he is ! 

The Dyer's Wife 

Eh ? He cockers and coddles his great ox 
more than we do our chickens. 

NiCOLO 

— Or your children either, — your children 
either, since you can't even keep them in a 
pen ! — ijTo bis daughter. "^ Run along with 
you ; fetch the water and have done. I thought 
it had been the nobleman of France himself, 
when I looked out and saw the lord bishop's ass. 

[Exit above, — Brother Leo assists As- 
SUNTA to rise from the edge of the fountain ; 
and the gossips ply her with questions to 
which she seems deaf 



68 The Wolf of Gubbio 

The Baker 
[calling~\ 

— And why, I ask you, djd your man leave 
you there? 

The Dyer 

— And why did you try to walk the longest 
way round to Arezzo ? 

The Potter 

— And why did you set down the babe in the 

snow? 

Bimbo and Bimba 

T 

Under a juniper-bush she laid it — 

— -When she saw the robber coming — 

Juniper 

For she mistrusted his benignity. She doubted 
by the look of his face, how the oil of goodness 
was wanting in him ; — which was indeed true. 

Bimbo 

— And her man was gathering faggots, just 

like us — 

Bimba 

— When the other caught him. — And it 
might have been us ! — 



*• 



The Wolf of Gubbio 69 

The Dyer's Wife 

'T is so, — *t is so, well it might. Oh, heavenly- 
mercy ! Be off, little plagues. The worry you 
cost your granddam this day. You might have 
been stolen \_cuffing Bimbo], you might have 
been lost \_cuffing Bimba]. You might have been 
frozen to the bone ; you might' have been eaten 
of wolves, into collops ! — [Cuffing both before 
heri] Into the house, little desolations of my 
life ! 

Leo 

\jo Assunta] 

Come, Lady : and be cheered concerning the 
babe. For thou shalt rest and think on him 
who lay, even as thou shalt, among the gentle 
beasts and warm in the hay. 

\He takes Assunta to the ox-shed under the 
archway and returns. Brother Juniper 
collects the faggots up near the foot of 
the steps and stands forth, rubbing his 
hands. 

Juniper 

And where shall the pot be found, for so great 
a feast? The pot that shall do honor to this 



yo The Wolf of Gubbio 

vigil, with an abounding minestrone — a very 
lordly noble broth ? 

The Dyer's Wife 

If the pot were all you wanted, holy father, we 

have a great kettle within, — and empty enough to 

please you 1 

[Bimbo and BiMBAfeUb out a great iron pot 

which they take to Juniper, with sundry 

trappings to set it up, 
» • 

BiMBA 

T 

But, Brother Juniper, where is the feast ? 

Juniper 

Why, little pigeons, behold the firewood 
ready, ^ — and this goodly great pot yawning 
empty ; and here be all the open mouths. It 
doth but remain for the Lord to send us some 
little portion of His largess,— that ye may all 
eat abundantly and be filled 1 

The People 

\with mixed emotions^ 
Ah, ah! 



The Wolf of Gubbio 71 

Juniper 

Nay, here a little, there a little. We shall 
put all together and make a great feast, doubt 
not. Give each the little he hath, — with the lit- 
tle more from up there [_pointing to the upper 
squarely y3.nd it shall be multiplied to all your 
hungers. — 

The People 

[ruefully^ 
Ah! 

iJTbe singing of St. Francis is heard dimly 
approaching. 

Juniper 

\yoistfully'\ 

I speak as a fool . . . Yet love bloweth the 
fire, and the fire shall boil the pot, and — \the 
singing nearer^ Peace, sweet brothers, he comes 
at last ! — 

\Runs up to look under the archway ^ and 
calls hack. 
He comes, — Brother Francis! — and a most 
marvellous great dog, leaping beside, — rejoic- 
ing with holy gladness ! 

\Enter St. Francis and The Wolf] 



72 The Wolf of Gubbio 

[For the following scene ^ The Y^ oly prances 
in, full of buoyancy, — checked every little 
while by his dread of recognition and by 
the novelty of the thing. He is filled with 
curiosity towards place and people. — 
Now and then he shies violently at a sud- 
den hostile association, — a twinge of con- 
science — or a scent! 

At first he occupies the stage centre, up, — 
wary and reserved, till Francis beckons 

, him; — rolling his eyes, tongue out, like a 
sagacious dog. — Later, he dashes in and 

' • out of the sheltering arcades, stands on his 
hind legs and looks in at windows and out 
on the people. The folk at first show some 
fear and astonishment ; then reassurance, 
— he seems the dog so completely. 

The People of Gubbio . 
[flocking towards Francis] 

. — Blessed Francis ! — Blessed Francis ! — 
Francis of Assisi ! - — Little Poor Man ! — Little 
Poor Man ! 

Juniper 

[all eyes for The Wolf] 

Brother Francis, little Father I Whoever be- 
held such a — 



The Wolf of Gubbio 73 

Bimbo and Bimba 

— Oh, what a funny, great big dog ! 

The Dyer's Wife 

— Holy Father, what a dog ! 

The Furrier's Wife 
That hide ! Those teeth ! — 

The Dyer 

See, see, see ! It 's the seraphic little Father's 
dog ! — 

Lucrezia 

\a blind old woman] 

Holy Francis, are you come at last ? To 
keep the feast with us hungry ones ? — 

The Baker 

Ay, holy Francis heard us call ! 

Francis 

Peace be to all ! 
Peace unto every smallest one 
Foregathered here, with Brother Sun. 

IjTouching the children s heads ; they draw 
hack from The Wolf. 



74 The Wolf of Gubbio 

BiMBA 

Oh, Father, what a fearful beast ! — 
He's so much like — 

Lucia 

\with upraised hands~\ 

— A wolf, at least ! 

The Women 

' Ah ! 

The Dyer 

r 

I never saw, — not with these eyes, 
A dog of such a size. . . . 

The Dyer's Wife 
Precisely like a wolf. 

The Dyer 

— In all ways, like a wolf. 
/ never saw — 

The Baker 

Nor I, indeed, — 
A dog of such a breed. 
Just like a wolf. 



«• 



The Wolf of Gubbio 75 

Others 

Yes, yes 1 

Francis 

Indeed, 

He is so ! 

The Furrier 
Girth and hide, — 

Francis 

\_beariily~\ 

And speed 1 

Sooth, for his name, in case of need, 

I call him — 'Brother JVolfJ 

I'Tbey laugh. — The Wolf rolls his eyes as if 
words failed. L.^o and JvmPEK approach 
him wonderingly. The Wolf, after a 
sidelong glance and sniff at each, licks his 
hand once; and sits still, lapping his chops 
with inexpressible discretion. 

Francis 

And for his courtesy ? To-day 
He fellowed me the livelong way ; — 
Look, Juniper, he ought to be 
A brother of our company ; 



76 The Wolf of Gubbio 

For all his prowess and his pride. 
He wears his shirt of hair outside, 
. . . Even at the holy tide ! 

Bimbo 
But he *s just like a wolf. 

Francis 

\heartily\ 

Yea, so ! 
And do you wish to see him go 
Upright, and walking? 

Children 

Yes — yes, yes ! 

Francis 

So. Brother, of thy gentleness. 
Wilt thou stand up before our sight. 
Even as a man, — for more delight. 

And walk upright ? 
[The Woi^f, surprised and gratified^ tries 
it and succeeds^ to his pride and pleasure. 
He paces several steps with dignity^ and 
sits down again with a ^ Wuff^ — a sneezy 
note of achievement. Chorus of pleasure 
from the bystanders. 



|V 



The Wolf of Gubbio 77 

Francis 
[_lo theni] 
Ye will have no more fear, to-day? 

All 

— No, no ! 

— Did you see him walk ? 

Did you see him play? 
[St. Francis crosses ^ left, to greet the old 
people in their doorways. The Wolf, 
who keeps discreetly near him, examines 
each interior, standing on his hind legs 
with quivering interest. 

Juniper 
\_to The Baker] 

And might it be, dear man, you have a loaf now, 
or other good thing, to give to the poor soul 
we found in the woods ? And herself laid by to 
rest in the stable-shed ? 

The Baker 

\ciuerulously'\ 

Good things ? — To give away ! Not I, not I. 
Ah, to be asking good things of me, and for a 
potter*s wife of Foligno, — and my sons away 



78 The Wolf of Gubbio 

warring at the gate of Perugia! — And not a 
morsel in the house but what I have to bake 
with my own hands . . . and scarce a tooth 
left me . . . and the hard winter on us, and a 
cold spring coming after . . . and the very 
Wolf at the door ! — 

[The Wolf shies suddenly behind the Saint 
with the hint of a growl. 
And the very dogs snarling at the old ! — 

[St. Francis looks in sweetly^ and cheers The 
Baker : The Wolf reconnoitres. The 
Dyer and his wife greet the Saint by 
their own doorway; — yellow hands on 
The Dyer, and blue on his wife, 

Francis 
[to The Baker] 

Take heart, man dear ! this very day 
Is bearing blessing on the way. 
We little fellows all are here 

To bring you cheer; 
That you'shall take, and turn, and make 
To fair white bread for hunger's sake ! 

The Baker 

Eh? 



«• 



The Wolf of Gubbio 79 

Francis 

Gather we all from door to door, 
A little, from a little store. 
Ah, dear my children, look and see 
That little turn a treasury 
To certain poorer than ye be ! 
1^0 The Dyer s Wife] 
So, Monna Piera! Come, what cheer? 

The Dyer's Wife 
— Oh, was there ever such a year ! 

« 

[/» one breath~\ 
Piero gone. Gentile, Giuseppe, all fighting 
at the gates of Perugia ! — Piero's wife ailing, 
Gentile's wife looking towards another! — 
Giuseppe had no wife at all to help me with the 
dye in nowise; — the dye, the children, the 
chickens! Only myself at the dye-vats with him 
\_pointing to her husbandl day in, day out. — 
Like an old hen clucking after three broods at 
once; — not a moment for a word with a 
gossip save on the high holy-days; and even 
then, the color will not off! Look you ! [Hold- 
ing up her azure hands.'\ 
[The Wolf reenters unnoticed for the moment^ 



8o The Wolf of Gubbio 

Francis 

Yea, Monna Piera, verily ! — 

As blue as any fleur-de-lys 

The earliest spring can bring to blow 

Along a meadow. 

The Dyer's Wife 
\_proudly'\ 

Eh? 'T is so! 

The Dyer 

— A noble, fast, clinging color, that floods 
cannot destroy. But who buys ? The blue stone 
I powdered up five years ago is hardly gone; — 
As for saffron — 

The Dyer's Wife 

— We Ve never sold enough to pay for the 
color of his two hands ! O Little Man of God, 
what a year, what a year ! 't is all as he said 
\_pointing to The Baker]; our young men away, 
and our young women pining, and the hard 
winter coming, and the Wolf at the door ! O 
Little Poor Man, what a year! 



\* 



The Wolf of Gubbio 8i 

The Wolf 

There 's an idea ! 

[^Exif by The Dyer's alley\ 

The Dyer 

What is the dog growling at ? 

The Furrier 

\_joining them\ 

— Why wouldn't any dog growl? — The 
taxes on fur, Father Francis ! I had as lief to 
keep the live beasts lodging by me, to eat us out 
of house and home. And now with fighting the 
Perugians, we shall sell them no fur these twenty 
years to come. As to this town and lordship, — 
who buys so much as the ear of a squirrel ? 

The Dyer's Wife 
\_pointing to The Furrier's Wife] 

And who can afford to be wearing a hood set 
round about with fox-tails ? 

The Furrier's Wife 
To save it from the moths and rust, — the 



82 The Wolf of Gubbio 

moths and rust, alone. No one in this desolate 
sorry spot would spend a soldo on a neighbor*s 
wares. 

The Potter 

[calling out grumblingly\ 

What is that to me ? What is that to me ? 
You can eat up the creatures you catch, and wear 
their skins after. But if no man buy my pots, 
can I eat them again ? Hee — hee ! — I can 
make little jugs and big jugs, — scodelle^ boccaliy 
tondini! But I cannot eat them, for all the 
teeth. I have. And they make little jugs and 
big jugs too, at Foligno, Fossato, Spello, — 
Pah! — And my last son away at the war; 
— and the harvest a mock, and the vintage 
worse, and the long winter coming, and the 
spring after that, and the summer next, but 
that's not the end; and all with the Wolf at 
the door ! — 

. [The Wolf, reentering^ shrinks close to 

Francis and paws at him for attention, 

'The children observe it, 

BiMBA 

Look, Father, look ! Who ever saw — 



O 



The Wolf of Gubbio 83 

Bimbo 

He has a splinter in his paw ! 

[The Wolf tugs at the habit of St. Fran- 
cis, with a show of pain, 'The gossips watch 
a moment^ then resume their wrangling 
at The Baker*s doorway ; some assist 
Juniper to set up his pot with a hook and 
iron braces. 

The Baker 

— And well he knows only a holy man would 
have the patience to take it out of a great wild' 
beast like that. A-ah ! [With disfavor, 

Francis 

Nay, Brother Wolf, come here with me. 
Give me thy hand, to see. 

The Wolf 

[muttering rapidly while he submits his paw with 
some complacency in being petted'\ 

— Thorn in each paw, and every ear full ! 
O Little Man, but this is fearful. 

O miserere ! 

How can I be both calm and wary ? 



84 The Wolf of Gubbio 

How can I look both ways securely ? 

— They'll know me, surely. 
Hearken. Just now, I made a sally 
Into the Dyer's, by that alley. 
And there, brimful and just inside. 
Is a whole vat, two metres wide, 

A rare, deep blue. 

— Would n't that do ? — 

No man could ever know this hide; 
Come on; — you have me — dyed! 
There 's saffron there, if you prefer . . . 
Not much, though ; for it 's costlier. 

— Beside, 
These cackling wives and make-shift men 
Might take me for a sheep-dog then. — 

Francis 

\^ laughing over him] 

What, Brother Wolf, for all thy pride. 
And would'st thou hide ? 

The Wolf 

Ijtervously] 

Whose hide ? — Maybe my courage fails, — 

A penance for my sins . . . 

But do avoid the man of Skins, — 

And his helpmeet, of a hundred tails ! 



^ 



The Wolf of Gubbio 85 

Francis 

A kindly man, of wants and woes. 
Why should he guess ? 

The Wolf 
[with scorn] 

— Has he a nose? 
[PTalks to leeward of the Saint towards 
The Furrier's empty booths to view the 
small exhibit of hanging skins ^ with fevered 
curiosity. 
Kind ! . . . And what do you think of 
those ? — 
{Sniffs excitedly and shies away, right, ^he 
people notice, as Francis crosses to them 
again. 

The Dyer 

Eh, eh ? No wonder he makes shy of Nello's 
shop ! That skin of his would fetch a fine price 
any day, — for a mock-wolf hide. 

The Wolf 
{overhearing] 
Mock-wolf I Gr — r — r . . . 



86 The Wolf of Gubbio 

The Potter 
\_from his doorway right\ 

Bah ! — via^ via ! 

[The Wolf avoids bim, and goes to the next 
door — Old Lucrezia's — where he shows 
signs of panic. She sits in the doorway y 
blindly spinning, with a little hand distaff. 

The Furrier's Wife 

[complacent lyl 
Ay, he would make the best of furs. 

The Baker 
Faith, 't is the Grossest of all curs. — 

BiMBA 

\_ following The Wolf] 
No, no ! — ' His tail is full of burrs ! 

The Wolf 

[to himself '\ 

, , , Now, will you hear ? — 

. . . There 's an idea ! 

[Backs up to Francis again, with signs 

of distress. The people laugh, while Fran- 

Qi^ follows The Wolf apart, and inquires 

of his hurt. 



The Wolf of Gubbio 87 

The Dyer's Wife 
Like a great baby ! — 

Francis 
\jo The Wolf] 
, . . Dost thou ail ? 

The Wolf 
[in a gruff aside] 

No, no, it *s not my tail. 
No, it *s my past . . . that *s on my mind. 
Why can*t that stay behind ? 
Hist ... do you see that woman there ? 
The old one, with the silver hair ? 
She '11 know me ! 

Francis 

Brother, she is blind. 

Bimbo 

\_watching from across the way] 

Hear how he whines. — 

BiMBA 

— He had good cause. 



88 The Wolf of Gubbio 

Bimbo 

— And licks his paws. 

The Wolf 
[while St. Francis strokes bis ears, and disen- 
gages a burr or two'\ 

O Little Man, ... I am not more than human ; 
— I cannot face that woman. 
Look, once . . . Oh, years and years ago, — 
Her garden *s at the back, you know . . . 

Francis 

[with pain and pity] 
Ah, tears of weary women still ! 

The Wolf 

[dolorouslyl 

Say what you will ... 
-But is n't it what all wolves do ? 

Francis 

Prey on the helpless? Yea, not you 
Alone, my Brother. All wolves do. 



The Wolf of Gubbio 89 

The Wolf 

And I was hungry . . . after Lent; 
And so ... I went . . . 
\JVhispers to St. Francis, whose face shows 
deep feeling, 
Hm-hm. — I did, and open-eyed . . .. 
And a young lamb, beside ! 

Francis 

\crossing with sweet concern to Old Lucrezia] 

Monna Lucrezia, of your grace, 
Will you sit here, a little space. 
And warm you in the lovely sun. 

Until your weaving 's done ? 
And this, my Brother here, shall be 
A footstool for you, joyfully ; 
To make your comfort full. 
The while you card the wool. 
\_She feels her way out into the sunlight^ smiling^ 
and sits up on a bench. THY.Y^ohY, obedient 
to Francis' sign, crouches before her, so 
that she rests her feet on his back. He is 
the picture of abject misery. 
And come you, all, till the noon is done, 
Singing and working, every one. 
For praise of Brother Sun ! 



go The Wolf of Gubbio 

Shall we not all, both young and old 
Sing away want, — sing away cold? 
Shall we not make our thresholds sweet, 
Even as though we looked to see 
Our Lady, riding presently 

Even adown this street? — 
\Jtbey catch the infection of his happiness and 

shed their woes and grumblings suddenly. 

The Baker 

\jaughing in sudden youth, while they look at 
him with amazement^ 

Eh? — Old as I am, and full of care, — 
Yet I could swear. 
If holy Francis do but pass. 
The snow turns feathers ; and all the air 
Is mild as Martinmas 1 

\singing\ 
I am the Baker of Gubbio; 
And the longer I live, the older I grow ! 
But when I can no more of bread. 
Manna shall be my food instead. 

Hosanna, 

Hosanna, 
Good wine, and mellow manna! 

\T^o The Potter] 
Eh? neighbor, are you dumb this day ? 



The Wolf of Gubbio gi 

Francis 
[^to The Potter, wbo is turning a bowl on 

his wbeel~\ 

Not he, not he! — Whose hands have skill 
To turn and shape, and warm at will. 

This cold and trembling clay : — 
Of feeble clasp and quivering lips, 

All shaken with dismay ; 
Ah, Povero ! the brother-thing, — 
A creature weak and perishing, — 
Look, through his guiding hand it slips, 
Wrpught now to stand and laugh, — and sing! 

The Potter 
\_elated~\ 
Eh, eh? 

\_He turns bis wheel, singing] 
Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! 
Round you go, round you go; 
Round as the sun. 

So, — so ; 
With a lip to sing, 
And a lip to pour: — 
When the draught is done, 

God send us more ! 

The Wolf 

Bravo! — '^//f • • • 



92 The Wolf of Gubbio 

LUCREZIA 

[^singing] 

Weave and spin; 

Spin and weave ; 

Ever since our mother Eve 

Did begin ! 
Little lamb, — O white of wool, 
Keep you white and beautiful. 
Give you peace, give you peace; 
^ You shall give me of your fleece. 
Never shall Our Lady grieve, 
' . While I weave, * 

While I weave 
This, — so moonlike white and fair, 
To shield Him from the bitter air. 
Her Lamb, her blessed Son, 
' ... Her One. 
[/f // laugb sweetly in her praise. The Wolf 
crawls out from under her feet ^ in dog-like 
distress of conscience, 
Francis takes a rush-basket from The 
Baker's window^ and turns back to The 
Wolf. 

Francis 
See, Brother Wolf, I bid thee take 



The Wolf of Gubbio 93 

This in thy teeth, a little space ; 
And even as a helpful hound. 
Go now thy round. 
Asking of each a little grace. 
For pity's sake. — 

\_He puts the handle in The Wolf's mouth. 
The Wolf trots off with Brother Leo. 
From time to time, he reappears — set- 
ting down before Juniper various con- 
tributions to the pot-au-feu, — a fowl, a 
string of onions y peppers, a hare. Juniper 
is zealously boiling the pot over the fire, 
with help and advice from the children, 
some of whom are mothering small swaddled 
babies, child fashion, as they look on. 

Lucia comes down from the fountain, spill- 
ing water out of her copper vessel all the 
way. St. Francis meets her with smiling 
protest. 

Francis 

But . . . of your courtesy, my daughter . . . 
Deal gently with her preciousness. — 

Lucia 

— Eh? — 



94 The Wolf of Gubbic 

Francis 

Our Sister Water. 
She is so lowly, and so clear, -^ 
Gladness to see, and mirth to hear; 
^Laughing, for very purity, 

— Laughing to thee and me ! 

Lucia 

\breaBng into song, with other girls who Jill theii 
jars also at the fountain] 

Water, water. Sister dear 
Silver sweet, — silver clear, 
. Sweet as laughter in the sun. 

Sparkle, drip and run! 
Wash the ways before her feet, 
Lest there pass along our street. 

The blessed, blessed One. 

A Caged Blackbird 

San Francesco! 
San Francesco I 

— D'Assisi ! 

— D'Assisi ! 

— D'Assisi I 



The Wolf of Gubbio 95 

[Juniper leaves his pot-au-feu^ and comes 
down, pointing out to St. Francis the 
nearest babe, now in Bimba's arms. 

Juniper 

Seraphic little father, do but see this Babe, 
how it is marked for the religious life. Poverty 
and perfect obedience, and silence ! Not a word 
out of him since I came. And his head as bare 
as a friar's ! Heaven itself gave him the tonsure. 

BiMBA and Bimbo 

\Jaughing\ 

Oh, Brother Juniper, it *s just a baby. Like 
any other baby ! [^0 it.'\ Povero I — 

[The Wolf, reentering at the moment, drops 
his basket and approaches, to sniff at the 
centre of interest, 

BiMBA 

Look ! How he loves babies ! 

[The Wolf shies off, in sudden panic~\ 

Juniper 

\of the baby\ 

Would he not serve right well. Father 
Francis, for our vigil and feast this night, of 
the Crib P — the blessed Babe in the Manger? 



96 The Wolf of Gubbio 

All 

[excitedly'] 

Oh, blessed Francis ! — Dear Brother 
Juniper ! Shall we have such a sight ? — Here ? 
— Where? — How? 

Lucia 

Shall we have a show, as the people did at 
Greccio ? 

Francis 

Sooth, you shall have such blessedness. 
You, too, beloved, and no less. 

Bimbo and Bimba 

With lights ? 

— And torches ? 

« 

Lucia 

— Banners ? 

Francis 

Yes! 
With all fair things, for loveliness ! 
Gathered together, every one, 
Here in this place when day is done ; 



The Wolf of Gubbio 97 

And we shall picture, as we may, 
The stall where once the Blessed lay, 
With ox and ass among the hay. 

BiMBA 

Oh, lights ! 

Francis 

— Yes, every way of light, 
To make the shadow bright ; — 
To make the dark see clear. 
And where is she, — that mothering one 
That with her little swaddled son 
Shall be Our Lady here ? 
[Lucia would step forward^ but Juniper 
interposes timidly. 

Juniper 

Father Francis, . . . the poor soul I told you 
of, yonder in the ox-shed ! — she and the ox- 
shed together, put it even in my dull head — 

Francis 

Yea, so ! — and of a certainty. 
Right meet it is. This holy night 
She shall be crowned, verily'; — 
After her hunger and her thirst. 
She that was last shall be the first, 
In all men's sight. 



98 The Wolf of Gubbio 

Lucia 
\_sbriny] 

— But she *s lost the baby ! 

The Dyer's Wife 

— And thou hast none ! 

Francis 

And .let you take good heed apart. 
How you may comfort her sad heart. 
As to Our Lady and her Son, 
Do, honor to this broken one ; 
Until the wilderness abound ; — 
And the lost lamb be found. 

The Furrier's Wife 
— But which is to be the holy Bambino ^ 

Bimbo '^W Bimba 

■ — Who is to be for the Baby ? 

\Jtbe women flock royLnd^n. Francis, holding 
out their swaddled babes for his eyes. 'The 
Saint looks on them smiling and touches 
them tenderly y putting them by^ one by one^ 
with a gentle shrewdness. 



The Wolf of Gubbio 99 

Francis 
Ah, Monna Piera ? 

The Dyer's Wife 
[jfroudly^ 
. . . Son of my son ! 

Francis 
Sweet peace be on this little one. 

Lucia 
Look, look ! this bimba here, — my niece ! 

BiMBA 

[calling over its bead] 

And mine ! 

Francis 

The Lord give thee His peace : — 
And thee . . . and thee . . . His nested loves ! 
Sooth, they are like a swarm of doves ; 
Cooing, and soft . . . and breathing warm. 



. . . . Doves in a swarm ! 

The Dyer's Wife 

Behold him ! 

[Thrusting nearer] 



loo The Wolf of Gubbio 

Francis 
Ah . . . and yet, methinks . 

The Dyer's Wife 
Look you, how piously he blinks ! 

Francis 
Yea, so. 

The Dyer's Wife 

— And warm and rosy-red ! 

r 

* 

Francis 

But ah, my little ones, ye see 
When Love the Lord came, verily. 
Could He have been so rosy-red. 
Who had no shelter to His head? 

The Furrier's Wife 

Ecco ! - — *tis liker . . . 
\_Holding out her own grandchild~\ 

Francis 

. . . Yet, not'quite. 
These little hands are folded tight ; 
And His, methinks, were open wide. 



The Wolf of Gubbio ioi 

Nothing had He, save love alone. 
Who came, a Lamb withouten spot. 
Came, in the cold, unto His own : 
And thev received Him not. 

\As with a sudden thought] 
Is there, maybe, some smallest one, 
Poor of the poorest ? — Nay, outcast ? 
Of all forlorn, the least and last ? 
Hungering, naked, — turned away 
Mayhap this very day ? — 
Or with no otherwhere to go 
Save wandering in the snow ? 

The Women 

No, indeed, little Father ! — We be all good 
mothers here ; we give our children the best we 
have. They never want for anything long, that 
they want with discretion ! 

Juniper 

[interposing again with beaming helpfulness] 

Father Francis, the poor woman ye wot of 
yonder in the ox-shed ; that is her case to the 
last feather ! Sore misprized, and turned away, 
and with no otherwhere to go. — 



I02 The Wolf of Gubbio 

Francis 

Brother, if this be so. 
No babe but hers is in such case 
To fill that holy place ! 
Hungering ? — Spent, and cold ? 

Juniper 

\_enraptured'[ 

There with the Ox, — behold ! — 

Francis 

r 

An outcast stranger. 

The People 

[clamorously^ 

— It's lost; it's gone; — ' 

— It's lost! It is n't here! 

— It is n't herel 

» 

Francis 

Still seek it, far and^ near. 
Search every spot. 

The People 

— Yes, Yes, Yes ! — 



The Wolf of Gubbio 103 

Francis 

And if ye find it not, — 



The People 
— Yes, yes ! — What then ? 

Francis 

Still there will be . . . the Manger ! 

\jrbey disperse^ trying to conceal their disap- 

pointment. 
Reenter at back. Brother Leo with a 
basket. 

Leo 

These, Brother Francis, my lord the bishop 
sends' to this feast; and would have thee 
to speak with him shortly, above at the 
palace. 

Juniper 

\j)pening the basket , and displaying herbs , 
eggSy and a dressed sucking-pig^ 

A most noble . . . little pig ... of great 
size [compassionately']. Ah . . . brother little 
Pig ! \^ faltering.] 



I04 The Wolf of Gubbio 

The People 

\_delighted~\ 

In withit, — mtoth^ brodo! Evviva the lord 

bishop ! 

Juniper 

\_obeying\ 
Alas . . . and Alleluia 1 

Leo 

Likewise, my lord the bishop hath given leave 
to ring the great bell for your assembling, when 
all is ready. 

[The Wolf shows some excitement^ looking 
up at the tower, 
.Francis, with a smiling gesture of adieUy 
makes as if to go ; the people disperse to 
: their houses. Brother Leo, up, assists 
Juniper. 
The Wolf comes down to meet Francis. 

The Wolf 

Lasso ! . . . Ah, do not go away ; 
Some evil thing will chance, I know. 

.... Ah, do not go. 

Francis 
-Not yet secure? 



The Wolf of Gubbio 105 

The Wolf 

No, no. — Ah, stay ! 
I 'm not at ease, not for a minute ! 
This miming, — why did I begin it? 
They '11 trap me by the conscience, — and then 
skin it ! 

Francis 
[coaxingly'] 

Ah! — 

The Wolf 

They suspect: else why that flick 
* Chick nor child, — child nor chick!' 
They know the best where things can prick : 
— Wf ! 'tis a human trick! 

\_Dislike and suspicion flare up, in his glances 
towards the houses. 

Francis 
Ah no ! 

The Wolf 

But yes ! And let me hear once more. 
Their endless taunt of Wolf^ Wolf at the 
door I — 

Francis 

My Brother ! — 'Tis no mock at thee. 



io6 The Wolf of Gubbio 

The Wolf 
[sternly'] 

There is no other Wolf for It to be: 
No peer of mine. 

Francis 
Thou 'rt fevered with remorse. 

The Wolf 

[cautiously'] 

N-n . . . Of course. 

But I am grown a proverb, do you see ? 

It 's me. 

There is none other hke me. No, 
I am The Wolf of Gubbio. 

Francis 
No. 'Tis the name they have for poverty. 

The Wolf 
[outraged] 

Their poverty! To put my name 
On that black dolor of all shame? — 

Francis 
The dread of want, that haunts the poor. 



The Wolf of Gubbio 107 

The Wolf 
[barkingly~\ 

TVolf-at-the-Boor? TFolf-at-the-Boor? >. 
To blame on me their poverty ! . . . 
And what of all that went before ? 
What of their famines and their war 

— War — War? 

Francis 

Even so, Brother. — Come, dost see ? 

Juniper lacks thy ministry. 

He is a true-heart; trust him ; — so. 

The Wolf 
Ah, must you go ? 

Francis 
To come again. 

The Wolf 

[ruefully^ 

Ahi ! — watch and pray. — 

But . . . oh, they'll have my hide some day! 

\_Looking back at The Furrier's] 
And if they do, when . . . when I best can 
spare it, = — 



io8 The Wolf of Gubbio 

Hist! Poverello, tell me, will you wear it? 
None of this folk; — I could n*t bear it! 

\^Exil Francis wilh a laughing caress to The 
Wolf's ears. Brother Leo joins him. 
T'hey go outy centre. The Wolf watches 
them offy then waddles dejectedly over to 
Juniper and the pot^ not without suspi- 
cion. He utters a whining^ experimental 
note. 

Juniper 

\_simply^ as to a question^ 

Yea, it is so, indeed. 

[The Wolf shies with astonishment^ 

The Wolf 
Wufff. 

Juniper 

Nay, you will like it, I make certain. Brother 
Wolf; what with rosemary and sweet basil . . . 

The Wolf 
\cautiously'\ 

Wfff. 



The Wolf of Gubbio 109 

Juniper 

But only wait till I have cooked all well to- 
gether, and it will be good . . . better than the 
raw flesh of Heathenesse. — I crave your pardon. 
Brother. 

The Wolf 

What 's that ? . . . 

Juniper 

This word I used, of * Heathenesse.' But you 
will forgive it, Brother Wolf. For indeed it is 
very gently done for you to be talking and 
reasoning with me, — a poor silly simpleton, the 
fool among the brothers, with no sayings or no 
words in me at all to match the cunning of the 
beasts ! 

[The Wolf backs away from himy dum- 
founded. 

The Wolf 

Ha! — . . . Words may fail . . . 

. . . But not a tail. — 
\JVags it and makes friendly wz/i? Juniper, 
who stirs the pot^ lifting something to view 
now and then with his skillet, . , , The 
Wolf on his hind legs looks into the pot. 



iio The Wolf of Gubbio 

Juniper 
[snrring] 
Poor Brother Hare ! 

The Wolf 

[commiserating] 
Ah, Povero, — gone under ! 

Juniper 
Would his own mother know him now? 

The Wolf 
\_witb a flourish of his tongue] 

... I wonder. 

Juniper 
Yet, if he needs must perish, to be sure. 
He shall as it were — 

The Wolf 

Refresh the poor ! 
Do they go hungry then, another year ? 

[Meditates] . . . Queer. 
Bravo, bravo, you 're a good fellow. — 
Wf! — This broth begins to mellow. 
[JVindows open right and left^ and inquiring 
noses turn toward the pot-au-feu. Bimbo 
and BiMBA and The Dyer's Wife ^- 
pear. She throws a handful of herbs. 



The Wolf of Gubbio hi 

The Dyer's Wife 

Brother, Brother Juniper ! It will want some 
spice now . . . I 've nothing to throw in the 
pot, but here 's a few herbs ! 

Children 

[calling] 

Throw them in, and then you *11 see ! 
Basil — fennel — rosemary ! 

The Potter 

\_from his window] 
Yes, and here, some sprigs of bay ! 

The Wolf 

What are they ? 
[Juniper ^/(T^j them up, and puts them in^ 
while The Y^ohY grins sagaciously at the 
houses, with growing sarcasm. 
Oh, I see . . . These goodly savors 
Call forth unaccustomed favors. 
I am not alone there ! — No ; 
Little wolves of Gubbio ! [Spitefully. 

^ [He crosses and looks in a window] 



112 The Wolf of Gubbio 

Woman's Voice 

Eh? — It*s only that wild dog. Be off! — 
I 've nothing more. 

The Wolf 
[aside] 

Nothing ? . . . Only when she pleases. 
Truly ! . . . (Row on row of cheeses.) 
Here is somewhat. . . . 
\_Missile flies through the window] 

Juniper 

— Miserere ! 

The Wolf 

Largess, largess ! 

\_Another follows] 

Hm ! ... Be wary ... 

Can't recall that I Ve abused her. [fThinks, 
Oh. — But then, ... an ageing rooster ! 

Juniper 
[stirring] 

This should be a most exalted 

Minestrone, 



The Wolf of Gubbio 113 

The Wolf 
Is it salted ? 

Juniper 

[running to a jar\ 

Salt, in sooth, more salt. — [Admiringly^ Ah, 

thou! 
. . . But if I had some saffron, now, — 

The Wolf 
Saffron ? 

Juniper 

A pinch. 

The Wolf 

The yellow in the vat ? 
— Do you mean that? 
\Goes to the house ; Juniper marvelsX 

Juniper 
The Dyer's ! San Rufino of Assisi ! 

The Wolf 

.... That *s easy. 
[Scratches at the door and retreats'\ 
— You ask him. [The Dyer looks out. 



114 The Wolf of Gubbio 

The Dyer 

If it 's anything — Oh, 'tis the wild dog alone. 
— Get away ! ^ 

The Dyer*s Wife 

Be off, then ! What do you look for ? [^Sees 
Juniper's petitionary attitude.'] Ask the neigh- 
bors ! As for us, we have n't enough in the 
cupboard for chick nor child ; and the long 
winter before us, and the bad vintage behind 
us, and the Wolf — [^he door slams. 

r [The Wolf sbies off, looking ugly] 

Juniper 

I would that our sister's heart might be 
warmed of holy Charity, to go comfort her in 
the ox-shed. — [^Pointing up.] ' Chick nor child/ 
— alas! — And where is hers, this winter day? 
[The Wolf glares at him with sudden suspi- 
cion, JvuiPER innocently rambles ony stir- 
ring. 
How would it wound her to the quick ! — Poor 
soul, withouten child or chick. 

« 

[The Wolf mutters^ still eying him] 
Nay, Brother. Is it lacking aught? 

[The Wolf shrinks from him, towards 
The Baker's house. 



The Wolf of Gubbio 115 

The Baker 
\jhrusting bis head out\ 

Yah ! — Be-ofF! — Get you gone, Lupone^ — 
Rubaccio ! Via — via — via ! 

\jTbrowing an empty flask at him\ 

Juniper 

*Tis done. 'T is done . . . smoking and ready ; 
now will I ring the bell. 

The Wolf 

\harshly\ 

— And then. 
The pack comes scrabbling back again ; 
The creatures yapping discontent ; — 
Animals that have lost their scent ! 
Noble reason throned, indeed! — 
To hunt and fight and feed ! 

\He begins to look devilish'\ 

Juniper 

\_mildly, his hands folded'\ 

Ah, Brother Wolf, I would n't say that. For 
who can upbraid them, disheartened as they are 
with the war and the cold, — 



ii6 The Wolf of Gubbio 

The Wolf 

^ And the long winter coming I ' — Yes ? Yes ? 
Yes? — And I and I and ! — 

Juniper 

\jeriously~\ 

Yes, and a sorry vintage. — And the very 
Wolf at the door ! \_He turns, not noticing The 
Wolf's fury, and goes up as if to ring the bell : 
then turns back,'] Stay ! First will I sweep all 
clean . . . Had I a broom now? . . [^Looks 
doubtfully right and left,] I will go and ask my 
lord bishop, in the name of the blessed Michael 
and all angels,-. . . to lend me a broom ! Then 
is there nought left save to ring the great bell. 

\_Exit, 
The Wolf 

\_alone~\ 

* \_His voice and manner change him to a 
crackling cynic] 

The Bell. \He glances upward?^ So this was 
all it meant. ... I knew it would n't last. — 
One of these sudden conversions. . . . Voice . . . 
face . . . music . . . queer feelings ... — 
Then where is it all ? — I would n't be a man if 
I could. There 's only one, \with a sidelong 



The Wolf of Gubbio 



117 



glance after Francis* exif\ . . . probably not a 
man at all; something new. — Perhaps back in 
the woods — Wf ! [^Showing sudden abject guilt, 
as he steals a look at the ox-shed, '\ , . . If he 
knew that ? Not he ! . . No. [_BeJiantly,'\ I will 
have my day, I will have my day ! . . . And 
after, — back to the woods. Ah, where 's the use ? 

What was I left watching for ? 

Saints could do no more ! 

\_D ashes from house to house, peering in, try- 
ing the next window, and muttering with 
growing excitement, 

Hm ! — One rocking at a cradle ; — 

Baling something with a ladle . . . 

Tying kerchiefs ; . . . making fine . . . ; 
\_A slap is heard and outcry of children"] 

Two — three — four . . . and all to dine? 

Ah, my beauty, why such airs? — 

Hi! The potter . . . saying his prayers! 

Tries her wimple . . . what a wearer! 

Just one snarl, now, would it scare her? 

(Lento, lento) . . . Buona sera ! 

• ■ ~ • 

Washing, truly. Dozing ? Heaven ! — 

Three, no, no, — four, five, six, seven 



ii8 The Wolf of Gubbio 

Hungry humans . . . Call it theft ! 

Eight ? — There will be nothing left. 

[Goes to The Furrier's : stands up^ quiver- 
ing with excitement at sight of the skins ^ 
recognizing old friends. 

Hide and hair, it makes me creep ! . . . 

Is n't this worse than taking sheep 

When you 're hungry ? — Steal and wear 

Others' skins? to make you fair? 

Murderers so debonair ! 

Ah, ah ! — \With an outburst of grief , 

So this was where she went. 

For all the longing search we spent ! . . . 

Oh, Silver Glory's radiant fur ! 

What woman lives to match with her ? 

Wind-swift ! — Her eyes two yellow suns ! — 

Fighting for all her little ones. 

The cursed winter Snarl was trapped . . . 

— If ever I see a woman wrapped 

Jn all that beauty not her own. 

That strength she could not meet alone, — 

Something she never fought nor {tAy 

Cold — stolen — duped and dead ! — 

[The Furrier's wife^ speaking back, appears 
at the window y takes down a mantle of wolf- 
skin and puts it over her shoulders , com- 
placently. 



The Wolf of Gubbio 119 

The Furrier's Wife 

— And / say i will ! For the dusk will be 
falling cold. And this nobleman of France may 
be there to look on . . . and what is it worth 
outside, but to gather dust and covetous desires ? 

\_Exi^ within. 

The Wolf 
\javagely~\ 

Never again shall my guilt vex my wits. 

We 're quits ! 

\JVith a snarly he runs up to the pot , and 
tramples out the fire beneath, — He stands 
upright and plunging nose and paws into 
the pot, voraciously devours everything. 

From the pot he crosses to the fountain and 
loudly drinks his fill ; pausing to grin with 
spite J back at the little houses, flourishing 
his tongue. Shying away from the ox- 
shed, which he always avoids, he goes up 
the stone steps on all fours, and disap- 
pears, right. 

Enter, up left, on the steps, Louis of France, 
followed by his men. All wear pilgrim 
robes, with palmers' emblems upon them. He 
descends the steps, and speaks back to them, 
pointing out the smoking kettle, smilingly. 



I20 The Wolf of Gubbio 

Louis 

Pause here. Ye see ? The feast is ready set. 

To-day shall we break bread with God's own 
poor ; 

And with the holy Francis. 

[Enter below, under the archway. Juniper 
beaming with joy, — a twig-broom in his 
hand, and a white linen cloth on his arm. 
Juniper, not noticing Louis, brushes off 
ihe flag-stones round about the kettles first, 
'Then, seeing the strangers, he advances^ 
with timid hospitality, 

. ' Juniper 
The Lord give ye His Peace. — 

. Louis 

And thee, my brother. 
Wilt thou admit a pilgrim ? 

Juniper 

Ah, Messer Pilgrim, God's guests are every- 
where. — Now am L about to ring the great 
bell . . . Then comes little Father Francis 
,. . . then all ! — 

\He hastens up and rings. The people come 
in with great expectation as the Bell sounds. 



The Wolf of Gubbio 121 

Enter Francis and Brother Leo — who 
meet Louis, without knowing him^ but 
with radiant friendliness. 

Juniper returns and hastens to the pot. 
Plunging in his ladle, he is seen to dis- 
cover with consternation that it is empty ; 
and stands, first incredulous, then rooted 
to the ground with woe, 

Francis 

Peace be upon you ! . , . and on all 
This homing flock . . . 

[2"<? Louis] 
My Brother dear ! 

[Tb Juniper] 
Nay, Juniper . . . But what mischance 
Doth cloud thy countenance ? 

Juniper 

\^aspingly\ 

Seraphic little . . . I . . . 

. . there *s no . . . 

. . . 'tis clear 
An Angel hath been here . . . 



The pot is . . . empty! — 



122 The Wolf of Gubbio 

The People of Gubbio 

My gander . . . my gander . . . the best 
of them all! — The pot is empty . . . the pot 
is empty ! No festa, no dinner, no minestrone! — 
Oh ! Oh ! my peppers, my peppers . . . the 
two last eggs ! Gone ! — Gone ! Devoured ! 
Devoured ! Devoured ! 

The Furrier's Wife 
and The Dyer's Wife 

An angel indeed ! Hear the simple brother 
who knows not the ways of angels from the 
ways of ravening beasts! Thieves, thieves it 
was !- — 

The Baker and The Furrier 

'T was that wolfish cur, — that Beelzebub of 
a dog, that watched by the pot when last we 
saw him. — No, no! He couldn't — He 
wouldn't — No, no! You lie! 

The Children 

\_weeping] 

Oh, oh! The pig! — The little pig— the 
pretty little pig from the palace! 



The Wolf of Gubbio 123 

Francis 

[_sootbing them\ 

Children, all shall yet be well: 
. . . Trust the blessed spell 
Or this Vigil that we keep. 
Nay, beloved, do not weep. 
Mayhap, for pity of your case, — 
Friend Nicolo will do you grace, 
. . . After a little space. 
[N I COLO, on the street steps, raises his 
hands in horror. Unable to argue with 
Francis, he begins to count heads, with 
increasing desperation, 

Francis 
[to the strangers smilingly^ 
And pardon, gentle Pilgrims all. 
Our emptiness, our windy hall. 
Yea, though ye be full travel-worn 

Yet ye will think no scorn. 
And though ye hunger verily. 

Pray you, bear with me. 
Since neighbor Nicolo, indeed 

Hath his right need 



124 The Wolf of Gubbio 

To make all ready, — to prepare 

For guests so many . . . unaware; — 

[Ni cold's despair bursts out afresh^ 

Holiday hungers, many more 
Than he had reckoned for 1 

[Francis takes the white cloth from Juniper 
who still stands motionless, and with the 
playful deliberation of a child, spreads it 
on the ground in the centre, while all 
watch open-mouthed, charmed into atten- 
tion, — a quiet circle. 

Right, behind the bystanders, reappears The 
.Wolf, rolling his eyes as if he defied the 
. situation, till the voice of Francis 
makes him also a listener, lost to all 
else. No one sees him. When the folk sit 
down, at Francis' bidding, he starts up 
with a dogs excitement at the matter 
in hand, showing his surprise and curios- 
ity ; coming down, by degrees, nearer those 
who sit with their backs turned towards 
him. Pangs of conscience alternate with 
his interest, and wistful looks towards 
Francis. 



The Wolf of Gubbio 125 

Francis 

See. I spread this fair white cloth 
For our table. ... Be not wroth. 

[_Co axing ly'J 

Cheer thee, Juniper, my brother ! 
May we not pledge one another 
Circled, brother-wise, around? — 
. . . Here upon the ground? 

\_He sits : they follow suit"] 

See. Our court is acres wide ; 
Guests flock in from every side; 
Let us, even as Love would. 
Share the bread of brotherhood. 

« 

Louis 
[/o Francis] 

Savors of immortal cheer 

Fill us all that listen here. 

Holy man and dear. 

Francis 

Nay, sweet brother : naught I can 
Save as a little, base poor man ! 



126 The Wolf of Gubbio 

But you, of your fair courtesy 
Shall fill us all with warmth and glee ; 
Yea, as it were with minstrelsy ! 
[The people are quickened ; The Wolf 
comes down^ listenings behind the right- 
hand corner-group, Francis turns eagerly 
to Louis and his companions. 
As, at the feast, the minstrel chants 
High deeds of knighthood and of war, 
Of Charles the Emperor, and sweet France, 
Ballad and gest and blithe romance, — 
' Be ye our troubadours ! 
Tell us poor stay-at-homes that be, j 
Of Saracens beyond the sea, — 
Desert and palm, and holy shrine; 
Of Acre, and of Palestine! 
Yea, ^ — all that won for thee this sign. 
[He leans across to Louis, to look at the 
crusader's emblem upon the king's habit, 
Louis unfastens it and leans towards him 
to show it, — The other knights do likewise 
with theirs s and the villagers cluster close. 
Louis is clearly seen in profile, left, Fran- 
cis facing the spectators, in the centre of 
the group. 
Enter, down left, — round the corner-wall of 
The Furrier's house, the two thieves, 



The Wolf of Gubbio 127 

Grillo and Yecchio Vecchio, unnoticed 
by the crowd, 
I'hey look upon this gathering with open- 
mouthed surprise^ soon spying Louis. 

Grillo 

\hoarsely'\ 

It's himself, in spite of all; — the man of 
France. Mark you that nose ? 

Vecchio Vecchio 

What game are they at? . . . They Ve borne 
off the food. 

Grillo 
\jtill staring\ 
It's his nose. 

Vecchio Vecchio 

And what good is his nose to me ? Do you 
see the miniver up his sleeve? 

Grillo 

That nose ... I saw it on horseback ... I 
can't miss it afoot. Look ! . . . 

'\ \T!hey whisper'] 
[The Wolf, to the right, sniffs warily high 
in air, then looks about for the cause of his 
unrest. 



128 The Wolf of Gubbio 

The Wolf 
\^aparf\ 

That scent ? ... It can't be . . . W/I 
\_He follows bis scent , left, and perceives 
Grillo and Vecchio Vecchio. At the 
same moment they see him, 

Vecchio Vecchio 
Death of my life ! — 

Grillo 
No, no, — 

The Wolf 

\ominously\ 

Qr-r-r-r ..... 

[People turn to look at Grillo and Vecchio 
Vecchio, who are struggling to join the 
circle for protection, 

Vecchio Vecchio and Grillo 

Gentlemen, lords — . . . No — no matter, 

^ We are . » . we are very fond of dogs ! 

— — I like dogs . . . Dogs like me. 



The Wolf of Gubbio 129 

The Wolf 
\_ferociously~\ 
Sguarda! 

Grillo 

The Wolf of Gubbio ! 

[^hey rush out, mad with fright, — Gen- 
eral uproar. — T^he villagers spring up 
and shout, huddled together, — Louis 
rises and his men stand by him, 
Francis lifts his hand for quiet, and crosses 
to The Wolf. ' 

Women 
\_screaming\ 

Father, it 's the devil himself — Seeking to 
undo you ! — 

Ah, Lupone, Rubaccio! — Beast ! Beast ! 

Men 

Kill him — kill him — kill him! No, it's a 
dog — No, it 's a Wolf — A dog — a Wolf — 
the Wolf of Gubbio, — the Wolf of Gubbio ! 

Francis 
Peace ! 



130 The Wolf of Gubbio 

All the People 

'Twas he emptied the pot ! — He stole the 
broth. — I saw him — I heard him — I knew 
it. The simple brother left him alone with the 
pot. 'T was he ate up our feast of a year ! 
'Twas he ate our chickens and sheep these 
years gone by ! — No, no, it 's a dog ! — The 
devirs own dog ! — 

— Look you! How ashamed he is al- 
ready ! Even as a dog he is telling you, — he 
did it! 

r 

[The Wolf goes abjectly prostrate at the 
feet of Francis. — The people pick up 
stones, 

Francis 

Hush. Little children, will you grieve 
The heart of God ? — This eve ? 
Your brother has confessed. 

.- He is your guest. 

Heavy indeed his debt to you, and sore. 
— Forgive the more. 

\_Murmurs~\ 
There is no need to tell : you know. 
This is . . . the Wolf of Gubbio. 
\Jienewed rage and fear'\ ' 



The Wolf of Gubbio 131 

And all these years, and all these years, 
He wrought you havoc, hunger, tears ; 
He filled the dark with fears. 
Yet this one day, — from his safe wood, ' 
He came to crave your brotherhood. 

If ye but understood. 
The dog that served so faithfully 
This hour gone by, was none but he. 
... I was the sinner, — I, 

To leave him lone 

All 

No, ... he must die! 
He must die ! — With a stake through his heart! 
— Kill — kill — kill him! 

Francis 

Hark ! . . . Know you not, on this high feast, 
There is a truce, 'twixt man and beast ? 

— Ye may not touch the least 
Of brother creatures vengefully ; — 
Nor hurt, nor hound him that he die. — 
That pact between you, ye shall keep: 
Unless you will Lord Christ to weep, 
.... Even Lord Love, on high ! 



132 The Wolf of Gubbio 

My little wolves . . . fear not ! Let cease 

Your anger, save it be with me. 

And Brother Wolf shall go in peace. 

\_Murmurs die out, and spring up . The people 
are backing away fearfully, when The 
Dyer's Wife stumbles against one of the 
French knights and screams. 

The Dyer's Wife 

Ah, ahJ . . . Look there, too! If he have 

not a sword under the robe of a holy palmer ! 

What pilgrims are these ! What holiday for 

poor folks ! — 

Louis 

\to Francis, reassuring air\ 

Yea, brother, think no ill ; — 't is no disguise. 
Only of wont, my men are armed with swords. 
To do you service ; seeing we are indeed 
All fellow-pilgrims . . . from the Holy Land. 
Arid I . . . 

\He hesitates, then says with meaning"] 
. . . thy Brother Louis . . . Louis of France. 

People 

— Eh, it is a great lord then, • . . 

A mighty baron — ! — 



The Wolf of Gubbio 133 

Francis 
[nol knowing him, but with simplest blithe 

courtesy'] 

And welcome, Brother Louis, from sweet 
France ! 

Louis 

Happily come ... to beg all ye, good friends, 

[jTo the people] 
Be guests of mine; and suffer me, me too, 
To bear a candle at your festival. 

Juniper 

[^approaching timidly] 
My lord Sir Pilgrim . . . 

Louis 

Brother Juniper? 
Tell me, what can I, or these gentlemen 
To speed the holy feast ? 

Juniper 

\in a breathless outburst] 

Ah, lords and barons, and Sir Brother 
Knight ! Your gentlemen, there it is ! — If they 
might but search the woods now, — before sun- 



134 The Wolf of Gubbio 

down; nay, 'tis well-nigh on us . . . but with 
torches ! Sure, any lost soul would follow a 
torch ! — And if they could, but find and bring 
and save, the good man, and the lost babe, 
of this poor soul yonder in the ox-shed ! . . . 
She that is to figure to us this night, Ma- 
donna Queen of Heaven, with that crib, and that 
hay, and the ox, and the ass, and the manger 1 
— For except we find and bring her man to be 
Holy Joseph, and her babe to be a babe in- 
deed, — the Blessed Babe, — there will be no- 
thi-ng left us for a spectacle, but a sorry, rueful, 
out-of-measure poor little fragment of a Holy 
Family ! ■ 

Louis 
[warmly^ 

Blest be thy heart, my Brother. We'll make 
search! 

Francis 
Take comfort. Juniper. ~ 



Children 
To-night ! — 



To-night ! 



The Wolf of Gubbio 135 

Francis 

— With every man his light ! 

\_^hey all withdraw^ taking the longest way 

round from The Wolf, with reviving 

sullen murmurs. Francis points to The 

WoLFj solemnly. 

And keep the pact of his release. 

\^o The Wolf] 
.... My Brother, go in peace. 

\T^hey go into their houses and bar the doors. 
Exeunt Louis and his men by the steps. 
Leo and Juniper up^ wait for Francis, 
who lingers bes'zde The Wolf. 

The Furrier's Wife calls from her win- 
dow shrilly. 

The Furrier's Wife 

Father, a wolf's a wolf! — Don't trust him. 
A beast is n't a man, and never will be. A wolf 
will never put on human ways ! — No, never, 
never ! 

Francis 

\_smiling\ 

Ah, . . . but yes 
— When men put off their wolfishness. 



136 The Wolf of Gubbio 

[^be light wanes ; with the quickness of sun- 
set in a mountain place, — There is a sound 
of bolts drawn and doors barred. The 
Wolf is still silent and prostrate, 

Francis 
Brother, and is thy hurt so sore ? 

The Wolf 
[muttering] 
* Wolf-at-the-door* ... 

r 

« 

Francis 

Nay, go in peace. And comfort thee ; 

... Behold, thou 'rt free. 
\_He points up^ and with a slow caress on 
The Wolf's heady he goes out under the 
archway with Leo and Juniper. The 
Wolf gets up from the ground and looks 
miserably y with hanging head, at the shut 
houses y right and left ; then shambles heav- 
ily up the square, pausing midway. 

The Wolf 

Yet have I not deserved to be 
Their by-word name for Misery. 
Men cast their wolfishness on me! 



The Wolf of Gubbio 137 

\_Snarlingly~\ 
Big wolves and little, — hutch and hall. 
Raven upon each other, all : — 
Each on the lesser, — day by day. 
They snatch and cheat and rend their prey; 
Warring together, great and small ; — 
. . . Yes, warring all ! — 
The very bread they struggled for. 
They spill and waste in war — war 

War! . . 

\Going up, and with his paws on the stepSy 

he turns to look back on the square. 
That day, when I would gather more 
Of ravening greed, and wolfish lore, 
I will seek out the homes of Men; 
I will seek out their feasts again. — 
Let them cry aloud, and call me, then, ^ 

^Wolf-at-the-Door . . . 
JVolf-at-the-Door ! 
Wolf-at'the-BoorV 



Curtain, 



Act III 



'The Little Poor Man touched my heart; 

With love^ with love, it broke. 
And from my bonden death-in-life ^ — 

/ woke. 



€ 



Act III 

Scene : T^he same square at dusk. Above the arch, 
the glimpse of sky glows peacock-blue ; with 
the Evening Star. 

'The archway is now filled in with a hanging 
composed of various stuffs and garments, — 
deep green, blue and olive, fastened together 
to make a curtain. At the left-hand edge 
of this home-made curtain, a crack of light 
gleams upon a string of children, one behind 
another who are peering in, — The only other 
light comes from the faintly glimmering shrine, 
in the corner-wall, which makes a tiny lunette 
of dim color. 

Down to the right, by The Potter's bench. The 
Wolf watches, motionless and miserable. 

BiMBA, giving place to another child for a moment 
at the -peep-hole, turns about dancingly, sing- 
ing. 

BiMBA 



S 



TAR, Star ! 
Star, Star! 



142 The Wolf of Gubbio 

Other Children 

[singing in little high voices^ 

Star, Star! 
Star, Star! 

BiMBA 

[peeping in'\ 

Look, look! Who'd ever guess it was the 
woman of Follgno ? She looks all shining^ like 
Our Lady. 

['They press together, to see^ 

Bimbo 
But she *s been weeping, too ; you can see. 

BiMBA 

You can see her tears . . . shining in the 
torchlight. 

Children 

[singing'] ^ 

Star, Star, 
Star, Star ! 

Star, Star! 

[The sound of a song in the distance attracts 
their attention for an instant. 



The Wolf of Gubbio 143 

Men's Voices 
[withouf\ 

The Lord of highest Heaven, 
Fair Lord Emmanuel, 
Shall come at last, this even, 
With famished men to dwell ! 
My heart, be as a bell, 
Noely Noel! 
And call unto the. calling stars, 
' All 's well ! All 's well ! ' 
Noel, Noel, Noel! 

The Wolf 

\_wretchedly, to himself^ 

The world goes by. 
The world goes by ; 
The stars smile down, 
And then pass by. 

\Looking up] 
The great Star shines, and will not see. 
The small stars prick me with their scorn. 
Each look is sharper than a thorn . . . 
Love is for every soul but me. 



144 The Wolf of Gubbio 

Bimbo 

^peering behind the archway curtain] 

Look at the Ox, . . . Nicolo's Ox ! . . . 
They are going to lead him out . . . Oh! . Ohl 

BiMBA 

Now she cannot weep any more. 

Bimbo 
His horns, are as wide as the moon ! 

BiMBA 

Wider than the moon : . . . wider than the 

moon ! And his eyes are as big as the doorway; 

and his coat is as white as the snow ! Oh, Nicolo's 

Ox was never so beautiful before, — never, never 

- so beautiful ! . 

The Wolf 
The Ox ! 

- [JVith unquenchable curiosity he creeps 
nearer^ lagging with jealous pain. He goes 
into The Potter's empty house, and tries 
the window, comes out restlessly, goes to 
Lucrezia's house, and thrusts the door 
open, coming out to listen to the sing-song of 
the Children. 



The Wolf of Gubbio 145 

Bimbo 

She ought to be content now, with every- 
body treating her like the Queen of Heaven. 

BiMBA 

But it 's only for to-night. To-morrow she *I1 

be just like anybody else, and as if it were last 

Monday ; . and it 's not back to Heaven she 

will be going, but only to Foligno. . . . Besides, 

you see, she wants her baby, — her own one! 

[The Wolf drops his nose wretchedly^ takes 

his paws from the sill, and shambles 

out with increasing dog-like anguish. He 

squeezes behind the stone bench along the 

house, and rests his nose on top of it, still 

watching. I^he Song approaches, — sung 

by the Kings men, off. 

Men's Voices 

The stars that be God's liegemen 
Along His towers on high. 
They lift aloft their torches 
To light the dark hosts by. 
Men, each and all, let cry, 
Noel, Noel! 



146 The Wolf of Gubbio 

Call to the stars above our wars, 
' All 's well ! All 's well ! ' 
Noel, Noel, Noel I 
[Bimbo scampers up the steps after the sound'] 

BiMBA 

It 's the French knights, coming from the 
mountain ! — They've found him, — they 've 
found him, — they Ve found her man! 
[^Reenter Bimbo, from alcove] 

Bimbo 

The man, the man, the man, they Ve found 
him ! They Ve bound him up, they Ve put a 
fine coat on him! . . . He's coming to be 
Holy Joseph, — standing by the Manger. 

Children 

[ecstatically] 

Holy Joseph, standing by the Manger ! 
['The tent-curtains part, and Assunta is seen 
to look out with agonized^ hope. Enter, 
above, three men with torches, conducting 
Giuseppe, a dark and comely peasant, 
wrapped in a borrowed cloak, with his 
arm in a sling. Assunta steps out, letting 
the curtain fall, and stretches out her arms. 



The Wolf of Gubbio 147 

Giuseppe 
AssuntUy Assunta ! — 

ASSUNTA 

'The Bambino? 

\T^hey reach their arms to each other, each 
seeing that the other has it not, 

Giuseppe 
Ah! 
\T^hey embrace each other, in stricken silence"^ 

Assunta 
\_pointing in~\ 
One there . . . has hope . . . 

Giuseppe 
Hope ? . . . Ah . . . 

Assunta 

. . . The Poverello ! 
\jrhey go in despairingly. The Wolf 
cowers and listens, 

BiMBA 

\to Bimbo, coming dow7i\ 
Oh , . . do you . . . suppose . . . ? 

Bimbo 

\_defiantly'\ 
Nobody knows. 



148 The Wolf of Gubbio 

BiMBA 

[weeping'] 

But . . . if we 'd never run away, 

• To-day . . ? 

She called, — she did, ... to tell us where 
it lay ! 

Bimbo 

[su/kilyl 

And if six men can't find it, how could we 
find it ? We 'might have been stolen ourselves. 

BiMBA 
Oh ! Oh ! . . . What if the Wolf — 

Bimbo 

[stoutly] 

He would n't dare ! — Would he ever put 
his nose in Gubbio after that ? Would n't he 
be a dead Wolf now, if holy Francis had n't 
'made us promise? . . . Who'd keep it after 
that ? Come back ... let 's see what they 're 
doing now. — It 's all dark here. 

BiMBA 

V Every candle up above . . . going round 
the Duomo. — All the people, — all the can- 



The Wolf of Gubbio 149 

dies, going along like little stars in the dark. 
. . . And Grandmother made a great wax- 
light ; and she *s going to let me hold it. Only 
it must keep from now till the feast of the 
three Kings ! . . . Oh ! 

\JDiscerning The Wolf's head, and hacking 
up, fearfully^ Bimbo after her. 
Oh, come, come — quick! — Stay close to 

holy Francis! 

Bimbo 

He . . . he *s asleep ! 

[T'bey scurry back to the curtain and the ab- 
sorbed group, left. 

The Wolf 

I to live on, alone, apart. 
Warming this pain in my old heart ! 
Still with the snows that melt and drip, 
Gnawing my paws for fellowship ! 
Looking, far, on the lights below ; 
Little house-lights of Gubbio ! 
Dehl . . . Lasso I .... Wff. . . . 

\f]Lhe curtain parts slightly, and Francis 
steps out towards The Wolf, who goes 
haltingly to meet him. 



150 The Wolf of Gubbio 

Francis 
Brother, and didst thou call ? — 

The Wolf 

\huskily~\ 

Yea, so. 

How should you know ? . . . 

I only wait one human sign. 

After this life-long, aching fast 

Of silence ; one more word of thine ! — 

The last. 

Francis 
The last ? 

The Wolf 

One word, one man-word spoken, 
. Before the midnight breaks your spell. 
And God takes back His miracle, . . . 
And truce is broken ! 

Francis 

Ah, Brother, this shall never be! — 
That any love 'twixt thee and me 
Be shattered. That were misery. 



The Wolf of Gubbio 151 

The Wolf 

\_suffering\ 

Oh, if you knew, .... 
You, too ! 

And what care I ? — 
Liefer I am at once to die. 
Than feel slow fires of tortured pride ; 
Seeing Love is; — but I must bide 
Forevermore outside ! 
{Juniper enters hurriedly from behind the curt ain\ 

Juniper 

Brother Francis, — Brother Francis, — the 
people will be coming now. Once around the 
Duomo they are going ! \Pointing above,"] And 
oh, Brother Francis, they will see a miracle this 
night ; — they will hear praise from the Ox and 
the Ass! For the Ass is taking thought, with 
his eyes fixed on the torches ; and the breath of 
the Ox goes up like incense, marvellous warm 
and white on the cold of the air ! Let us watch 
for the miracle ! 

[Francis goes up, beckoning The Wolf to 
stay, T^he Children cluster round Juni- 
per and the curtain. The Wolf with- 
draws slowly down. 



152 The Wolf of Gubbio 

Children 
O Brother Juniper, O Brother Juniper! 

BiMBA 

Will he speak this night? Will the Ox 
speak ? — So that we all can hear ? 

Juniper 

Why not, little fledglings, why not ? Since 
the Holy Night is drawing on; and only now 
he moved his great eyes towards me ; and I 
heard with my heart as it were the sound of a 
bell ! Have faith ! Have patience. — 

Children 
What will the Ox say ? 

- Juniper 

Why, he will praise the Lord, surely. But 

whether with Hosanna or Our Father, I cannot 

tell. 

\_BeU sounds from the Duomo'\ 

Children 
Oh! Oh! 

\_Some scamper up the steps to join the pro- 
cession above. A few remain with their 
noses at the crack of light. 



The Wolf of Gubbio 153 

The Wolf 

[looking up towards the bell~\ 

Yea, and I hear! Oh, rarely well 

You wove the spell . . . 

Beckoning voice far-off, .... Bell ! 

[l^he bell sounds] 
Warm, and softly, you led below. 
Here, to the men of Gubbio ! -— 
Out of that lone and listening wood, 
. Dreaming a dream of brotherhood ! — 

\_Bitterly'\ 
Hush ; — wait; you shall sound my knell. 
Only a little ! — I come again. — 
Only a few sands more, and then . . . 

iBeiq 

Farewell ! [He runs outy wildly, right, 

[Enter down, also from the right, the two 

thieves, Vecchio Vecchio and Grillo, 

puzzled at the changed aspect of the 

square, by reason of the blocked archway, 

Vecchio Vecchio 

. What *s towards, now ? This is the maddest 
lunatic town I ever fell on ! — 



154 The Wolf of Gubbio 

Grillo 

Will you see that? Where is the gateway 
gone? Were we not here ? Or have we rounded 
on ourselves? 

Vecchio Vecchio 

Per Bacco ! Thou 'rt besotted. This is the 
place ; the very place where we sat waiting for 
them to set on the food. Look you, the same. 
The archway there is blocked with some holi- 
day show. 

Grillo 

An ever I am able to tell east from west 
again, — or right from left, or a wolf from a 
man ! We were fools to take to our heels. 
But when I saw the old devil there, rearing 
and bristling, even as this morning on the 
mountain . . . \_Shivers.'\ ... I see wolves 
everywhere ! 

Vecchio Vecchio 

[laughing feebly~\ ^ 

Thou 'It be telling it was a Wolf we passed 
now in the dark . . . running possesst through 
the brambles, — in too much haste to eat us! 
• . . But if it had been the Wolf indeed, — 



The Wolf of Gubbio 155 

he were slain and skinned by this, and his ears 
nailed up on the gate — ! 

[Tbey inspect the house front s'\ 

Grillo 

\rallying\ 

Thou 'rt right, Old Cheese ! 'Tis the place, 
and the arch, and the lower square, of the lordly- 
city of Gubbio. — \_Pointing?^ Duomo ; — foun- 
tain ; — tanner's, — by the breath of this byway ! 

Vecchio Vecchio 

\jpointing\ 

And by this master show . . . What if . . . 
[^Approaching The Furrier's] 

Grillo 

No, no, show me first what 's back of yon 
gallimaufry curtain. Show me first where lies 
the man of France! 

\jrhey tiptoe towards the curtain^ 

Vecchio Vecchio 

Oho ! And this is the day when friars feast. 
Wine flowing freely ; and some noble show set 
forth, not without noble gazers, unannounced. 



156 The Wolf of Gubbio 

\_Speaking back to Grillo] 
^Follow me on!' ... Then, lordings, by 

your leaves, 

— An if it please you 

\_Enter from the archway^ Francis, his eyes 
fully smiling on the twoy without surprise. 

Francis 

Welcome, . . . Brother Thieves! 

\frhey stand rooted to the earth, — robbed 
of their breath, — like creatures at bay, 
Francis lets the curtain fall behind him, 
and steps out into the dusk towards them^ 
encouragingly, shading his eyes a moment, 
the better to see. He speaks with friend^ 
liest cheer. 

Nay, beseech you, do not go. 

So the torch-light dazzled me, 

. . . Hardly might 1 know. 
. Yea, but now, in verity, 

Seeing it is none but ye. 

Brothers, of your courtesy. 

Do not go. 

1 will not. Brothers, that ye be 

Such castaways of misery, — 

And your lives in jeopardy. 



The Wolf of Gubbio 157 

. . . Men under ban: — 

Nay, but each one a joyful man. 

Come in, come hither, and in God's name. 

Suffer ye now no blame. 

\l^beir faces are convulsed with doubt , 
amazement^ irony. 

But take your comfort, and draw near, 

. . . Without hurt or fear. 

Warm your hearts against this sight ! — 

Since our Lord is host to-night. 

— I will be your warranty, 

Men shall do you right. 

[l^bey come down slowly as if they were un- 
able to walk. Francis goes up the steps 
to meet the procession, 

Grillo 

\wanly trying to chuckle\ 

' Such misery I ' 

\H is face is twisted with want. 

Vecchio Vecchio 
\dully'\ 
^ Hurt or fear V But it was he . . . 



158 The Wolf of Gubbio 

Grillo 

It was he . . . the same. It was he of the 
woods this morning ... a little thin fellow. 
[T'wiubing his fingers as if he remembered 
his clutch of St. Francis* shoulder. 
... I am stark madman now, I know. 

Vecchio Vecchio 
\_as the voices approach'\ 
We durst 'not stay. . . . 

Grillo 

.... We durst not go! 
\frhe procession comes down the steps led by 
two Pifferari; the French knights sing- 
ing, with Louis; then the women ; then 
the men; ail with candles ; Francis <^;?<^Fr a 
'L.'EO falling in last. Grillo <^W Vecchio 
Vecchio withdraw,- down to the left, 
clearly not daring to run away ; and 
watch all that happens, surprised into 
open-mouthed subjection. 

The Knights 

Now fair lord Gabriel speed us 
Who march not forth to war; 



The Wolf of Gubbio 159 

But seeking out that little Child 

And following on the Star 1 

All we His liegemen are ; — 
Noel, Noel! — 

Both shepherd-folk and men of might. 

And kings that come from far ! 
Noel, Noel, Noel! 

\_As they range themselves by the upper ar- 
cades expectantly, right and left, Francis 
stands forth before the curtain. 

Francis 

Welcome, beloved ! Welcome ye 

All met in one glad company ; 

Each one a singing and a light 

To praise the holy night! — 

Like little sorry stars we are. 

And dim and small and late and far. 

That follow the one Star. 

But yet one treasure do we bring, 

As liegeman to their king : — 

Love, love, down-showered, — and love 

outpoured 
Over the world, on every thing, 
From Love that is sole lord. 



i6o The Wolf of Gubbio 

\JVitb the radiance of a child'\ 
O heart ! thou Httle rueful cup. 
Fill thee brimful ; be lifted up ! 
O heart, — thou little cup of earth. 
What should be likened to thy mirth 
Or to the radiancy thereof. 

So thou wert filled with Love ? 
No heart so dark nor so forlorn 
That, if it were fulfilled of Love, 
The sta;- that most exults above, 
Could laugh his gift to scorn. 
' But then indeed the stars shall sing 
With men, for glory of one thing: — 
When that True Love is born. 

Children 

- Star, Star, 
Star, Star I . . . 

Francis 
Ah, dearest ones, there is one word to tell. 
Where Love is not, can be no m'iracle: — 
Where Love is, . . . All is well 1 

The People 

Noel, Noel! 



The Wolf of Gubbio i6i 

Francis 

[ai the curtain] 

Now, Love Himself shall be our Host; 

And not in castle nor in hall, 

But yonder, in a stall ... 

Even as an outcast stranger. 

Fain to be homeless with the uttermost. 
Behold, ... the Manger! 
[Leo and Juniper draw back the cur- 
tains. Torch-light turns the archway to 
a golden lunette^ with its Holy Family. 
AssuNTA rohed as the Virgin leans above 
an empty manger ; Giuseppe, grave and 
comely-, as St. Joseph, with a crook; — 
at back the great white Ox, behind a bin 
of hay, and the Ass beside, The back- 
ground is filled with hangings and green- 
ery. 'The people are struck with awe and 
delight, 

Grillo 
\_down to Vecchio Vecchio] 
Are we living or dead ? 

Vecchio Vecchio 
If we be dead, then this is Judgment. 



i62 The Wolf of Gubbio 

Grillo 

[in a whisper] 

Nay, it Is the town of Gubbio . o . and 
the man yon, ... Is the man ... on the 
cliflF ... 

Vecchio Vecchio 

And .... She is . . . 

Grillo 

The woman of Foligno. . . . 
, \_At the close of the Noel above ^ The Wolf 
has reappeared down by The Potter's 
wall, breathless y burrs and brambles in his 
coat and ears. He looks andretreats ; reap- 
pears in the open doorway of Old Lu- 
C'SiY.ziAS house, and watches there awhile. 
He is panting, and evidently in extrem- 
ity of wretchedness. No one sees him; all 
are rapt in the welcome of St. Francis. 
Bimbo and Bimba explain all to Old 
LucREziA, who listens with beatific plea- 
sure. 

BiMBA 

- — And Blessed Mary the Virgin, — and 
Holy Joseph, and the Manger ! 



TheWolf of Gubbio 163 

Bimbo 

— And Joseph has a crook. 

BiMBA 

— And Mary has a veil. And the Ox and 
the Ass are there ! 

Bimbo 

And torches, — lights in every place ! 

LUCREZIA 

I feel them shining ... on my face. 

Francis 

Come then, beloved, and draw near ; 

Let us make offering here. 

For we, that be not great nor wise. 

Shall we not gladden our poor eyes. 

Even to the last and least. 

Like wise men from the East? — 

Yea, surely ! Could we see indeed 

Our Lady in her hour of need ; 

The Blessed Mother, glorified. 

Above this cradle-side, 

Would not our hearts receive their sight. 

And we go glad this night ? 



164 The Wolf of Gubbio 

Ah, dearest, could we but have known 
The days Love came unto His own ! — 
His one reproach no more but this, — 
' Thou gavest Me no kiss.' 

\He turns towards Assunta] 
Bring we our treasure, and no less. 
So shall it be that for her cold 
And want, and sorrow, sevenfold. 
She shall have more than heart can hold 

Of, blessedness. 
Love make our offerings to her. 
Gold, and frankincense and myrrh ! 

\_He beckons first to the Children, who 

go up one by one^ with their gifts y Bimbo 

and BiMBA speakings the others dumbly 

following ; all watched with rapt interest 

by the neighbors craning their necks. 

Bimbo 

I have a cricket here for mine ! 

I caught it, last Ascension Day ; 

And I gave it grass, and drops of wine. — 

And when it rubs its wings 

Together, — then it sings ! 

And I made this cage for him, out of rushes ; 

And it 's just like our thrush's ! . . . 



The Wolf of Gubbio 165 

Holy Bambino '11 love to play 
With that in heaven, some day ! 
[AssuNTA receives it, smiling faint ly"] 

BiMBA 

{offering her plaited basket"] 

O holy Francis, — I mean . . . O Blessed 
Mother ! 

That boy was Bimbo . . . and I *m just the 
other. 

This one I made. Madonna, this one here ! 

And I began it long ago, — last year. 

And Granddam made it too, at harvest-moon ; 

But I finished it again, this afternoon. 

{The other children follow^ proffering their 

gifts, 
'The Brothers tie white goose-wings to the 
shoulders <?/" Bimbo and Bimba, who beam 
with pride in their angelhood. Their grand- 
mother explains to Old Lucrezia. 

The Dyer's Wife 

— The finest white goose feathers ! \ 

The Furrier's Wife 

— Fine, I vow ! 



i66 The Wolf of Gubbio 

The Dyer 

— My boy Gentile ought to see them now ! 
[Lucia advances first of the maidens, with a 
bright scarf. 

Bimbo 

[calling out"] 

Take care it *s nice, Lucia, what you bring ! 
We Ve angels now; — we can see everything ! 

Lucia 

[humbly to Assunta] 

Lady, this kerchief for your neck, . . . 

The best I have. — It is not worn at all. 

Saving it was I, for the festival 

Of the three Kings. ... 

The best of all my things. 

Lady, I pray you, wear it, to make fine. 

Other Girls 

— And mine ! 

— And mine ! 

— And mine ! 
[^hey flock towards Assunta, and touched 
with new awe as they approach, offer 
their ribbons and withdraw softly. 



The Wolf of Gubbio 167 

LUCREZIA 

[listening with smiling blindness^ 

And is it our maidens ? — What are they doing, 
Softly as doves? . . . All feathers, ... all coo- 
ing! 
[Beckoned by Francis, The Baker hobbles 
up on his cane, with a loaf under each 
arm and a bulging Docket, ^here is the 
same homely warmth with the gift, and 
awe at the group before him, as he ex- 
plains his offering. 

The Baker 

Lady, Madonna, . . . think no scorn ; 
I kneaded and baked since I was born. — 
Milk-white loaves, and both for you. . . . 

[Fumbling in his pocket s'\ 
Something for Holy Joseph, too. — 
Eggs of the silk-worm ! There *s a beginning : — 
Once ye have them hatched and spinning, 
Each of them in his own cocoon, — 
Eh, — eh ? Ye know ? — Ye can learn all soon. 
[Starts to go and turns back, feeling in the 
other pocket. 
Ehi, I am old in the wits, look you ! 
Here are three slips of mulberry, too ; 



i68 The Wolf of Gubbio 

Ripe to set. — If ye had no more, 
'T would help to keep the wolf from the door! 
Blessing and Hail! — And so, farewell; — 
Go safe, with glorious Gabriel ! ^ . 

The Dyer's Wife 
[/tf Lucrezia] 

Listen to him ! 

Lucrezia 

\Jaughing with pleasure^ 

Old neighbor, — you? . . . 
And his voice all shining over with dew! 

[Francis beckons to The Potter, who 
■ wipes his forehead and approaches with 
his gift ; looking about ^ awe-struck^ on the 
Manger and the group. 

The Potter 

\_crossing himself^ 

Was it like this ? Was it like this ? 
Hay in the stable ? . . . Lady of Bliss ! 

[Humbly offers his bowl^ holding it up also 
for Joseph's inspection. 



The Wolf of Gubbio 169 

Madonna, 't is a little bowl ; 

Yet masterly made, and whole. 

Look you, and it is lipped both ways ; — 

One side for hunger ; one for praise. 

Good measure it will hold! 

Eh? . . . 

I would not have it scrawled and scrolled ; 

The very way — [Checking himself. 

No, no, . . . look here. 

Burnished and bright, and fountain-clear. 

My ruddy glaze ! [Polishing it with his sleeve. 

And, woman dear, 

[ Fumbling in his cloak for a small bowl'\ 
For Him . . . and in His name, ye wit, 

[Pointing to the Manger"] 
A little fine one, like to it; 
If he be found again . . . Ah, well ! 
Misericordia ! Who can tell ? 

[As SUNT A is agitated] 
Holy Joseph ... I wish ye well. 



The Dyer 

[to his wife] 
Now you, Giannina, you can speak for two. 



170 The Wolf of Gubbio 

His Wife 

No, you go first. No, I will, and then you! 

[^Tbey go up together^ towards Assunta] 
Madam, I . . . here ! \Presenting her linen, 

... I wove it with these hands ; 
As any one can see that understands. 
And it *s fair linen, one can tell, — the best ; 
And from the finest flax I ever dressed ! 
And here 's the border, and it *s all for you. 

The Dyer 

\with his offering^ 

— And this one, too . . . 

His Wife 
Dved with the purest saffron ! 

The Dyer 

— Precious blue ! 

The Wife 
The goodliest color . . . 

The Dyer 
— Ay, the blue *s our pride. 



The Wolf of Gubbio 171 

His Wife 

There *s but a little left, of all inside — 
And it will last you fourscore years and ten ! 
[She chokes with human emotion at sight of 

the empty Manger; — so does The Dyer, 

as they turn away, 
. . . , And then — 

The Dyer 
And then. 



You '11 hand it down. — 

His Wife 

— 'T will last you all your life ! 

\She vainly tries to keep him from speaking^ 

The Dyer 

— Yes, iron-strong, each one . . . 

And you will hand them down, unto your son.- 
Well, well, if not your son then, to his wife ! 

[She leads him away"] 
What ails thee, woman ? 

His Wife 
[ weeping"] 
Oh! 



172 The Wolf of Gubbio 

The Dyer 

Whatever *s at her ? 

Spilling out tears and chatter? 

His Wife 

Thou blundering man — ^ Hand down ' — Oh ! 

Oh! 

The babe, that will be perished in the snow ! 

The Wolf 
[with' a moan from his cover t\ 

Dehy — Guai, Guai I 

[Vecchio Vecchio and G-KiLLOy still cowed, 
look across, at The Wolf, while others 
follow The Dyer and His Wife with 
' their homely offerings, 

Grillo 

_ What ? — ■ 

» 

Vecchio Vecchio 
'T is a dog. 

Grillo 

No ; \ is the same . . . 
The Wolf, — I care not. — \ Dully, 



The Wolf of Gubbio 173 
Vecchio Vecchio 

Spent, or lame. 

He is; none heeds him. Look you, — tame ! 

Grillo 

Ay, it is he . . . And he is sad. 

Even as a man ; or charmed, . . or mad. 

[The Furrier and His Wife step for- 
ward with beaming satisfaction. 

The Furrier 
Madonna Virgin — [To his wife.~\ Nay, let me ! 

His Wife 
Man, hold it up, so all can see. 

The Furrier 

Ecco ! — 
[Displaying a large fur hood with many tails'\ 

Neighbors 

— Ah! ah! — 

But that is rare ! 

The Furrier's Wife 

There 1 

Wrought with most cunning . . . 



174 The Wolf of Gubbio 

The Furrier 

. . . Finest vair \ 
Eh ? Parti-colored, — out and in ; 
Matched of the softest squirrel-skino 

His Wife 
— And set about with all these tails! 

The Furrier 

Soft as the breath of nightingales . • . 
Soft as a new-born ... 



His Wife 

o Nay now, . » . hush I 



The Furrier 

\Jooking at the Manger"] 

Soft as a .... . thrush ! 
Andj Lady, look you . . . if you should 
Find him again, but if you could — 

His Wife 

— Nay, 't is too large for that, this hood ! 
\Leading him back ; he turns and calls over 
his shoulder. 



The Wolf of Gubbio 175 

The Furrier 

But if he be lost, as they have said, — 
Why, ye might sell it then, instead ! 

The Dyer's Wife 
[^aside] 

Ah, furs will never warm the dead. 

[Francis comes down himself^ and leads 
Old Lucrezia tenderly^ towards the 
Manger, She seems to feel her way by the 
warmth and lights and reaches her arms out^ 
her face filled with beatitude. 

Lucrezia 

Look down. Madonna. — If it be 

Thy will to make an old heart glad. 

Shine upon me. . . . 

Beautiful sons I had ; 

Beautiful daughters. — All are gone ; 

And the daylight, that shone. 

Ay, all their sweetness, it is cold . . . 

And I am very old. 

But this I take my comfort in. 

Madonna, where I sit and spin; 

Dreaming I ever make 

White things, for thy dear sake . . , 



176 The Wolf of Gubbio 

And for thy blessed Son . . . 

[Offering a little garment hlindly\ 
See, Lady, it is done. 

\_She approaches the Manger and touches the 
edge. 
And was it so, the Holiest lay? 
Even as a lamb, among the hay ? 

Francis 
Yea, Mother, even so. 

LUCREZIA 

Ah, could I only touch, and know! 

Ah, she will think no scorn. 

If I but feel, who never saw, — 

How warm He lay, the Babe new-born, 

Warm bowered in the straw ! . . . 

\_She gropes y with a worshipping face ^ about 
the Manger, Suddenly her face clouds with 
pain. AssuNTA and Giuseppe are shaken 
with irrepressible grief. 

Ah ! — It is empty. [Assuhta weeps,' 

Francis 

\soothingly\ 

...... Till we find 

That which is lost. Nay, — 



The Wolf of Gubbio 177 

LUCREZIA 

I am blind ! 

Bimbo and Bimba 
— Madonna 's weeping ! 

Others 
\dismayed^ 

Weeping! Oh, 
What an ill omen ! 

Francis 

Nay, not so. 

The tears of this Our Lady here 
Shall haply wash our poor eyes clear. 
Only her holy grief, maybe. 
Could make us see ! 
For had we cherished, yesterday. 
These two that fared their lonely way, — 
Had we but kept this Mother here. 
Even as Our Lady dear, — 
Nor sent her, as a scattered leaf. 
Not caring whitherward, nor how, — 
^ We should not stand all shamefast now. 
Before her grief 



lyS The Wolf of Gubbio 

But she who hath, for some high grace, 
Madonna's tears upon her face, — 
Even to us who wrought her pain, 
Will she not give us wondrously. 
Out of Our Lady's treasury 
Pardon and peace, again ? 
[AssuNTA recovers herself and looks up^ smil- 
ing ; Giuseppe strokes her shoulder^ and 
looks up likewise. 

The Dyer's Wife 
Ay now, he says it and it 's true, too ! 

The Furrier's Wife 

And some of it for me and vou too ! 

For if we 'd kept them here that day 

When Nicolo sent them all away 

So they were robbed in the woods there, maybe — 

The Dyer's Wife 
They would never have lost their baby ! 

The Baker 

- — Then we 'd have had the Holy Bambino ! 
Nicolo's fault. — 



The Wolf of Gubbio 179 

Lucia 

But how could he know ? — 

[NicoLo hears and protests, ^he murmur 
springs up, while others are passing before 
the Manger. 

Lucia 
\l^o The Dyer's Wife] 

Look at your two little angels there, 
In the goose- wings they/re fit to wear! 
— Were they not telling they heard a cry? 

The Furrier 

— Did ever they search for the babe, put by ? 

The Furrier's Wife 

— Search? Not they! Would they try to 

find — 

Lucia 

— Running with never a look behind ! 

The Dyer's Wife 

Say as you will . . . From last to first, 
We 're all but sinners. 



i8o The Wolf of Gubbio 

Lucia 

We *re not the worst ! 

Who would call it a mortal sin. 

To clear out all comers, out of the Inn? — 

Were we not told, to take and prepare 

And make all ready and fine and fair, 

And empty and splendid for these French 

knights? — 
And a great lord with them, that none did 

know, 
Coming to lodge in Gubbio, 
And to see the sights ? — 
And if they never had come then, maybe 
Those two wouldn 't have lost the baby ! 

-The Potter 
\_ piping up again\ 

^hen we *d have had the Holy Bambino ! 
■ — Nicolo's fault ! 



NicoLo and Lucia 

\_at bay\ 
But how could we know ? 



The Wolf of Gubbio i8i 

Juniper 

[wbo has been paying his homage to the groups and 
ever watching the live-stock with expectancy ; 
he points to the Ox\ 

See, Brother Francis, how he looks and hears ! — 

And Brother little Ass ... he turns his ears. 

Will they not speak ? 

To comfort this our Lady, for the tears 

Upon her cheek? 

Children 
Oh, will he speak ? Oh, will he speak ? 

NiCOLO 

\desperately'\ 

No ! No ! — He will not speak ! Father 
Francis,^sweet little father Francis, — God for- 
bid that my Ox should turn and speak ! Mir- 
acles, miracles enough, can there not be ? — 
with sheep and birds and little fishes ? — but 
that mine Ox should turn out to be no Ox at 
all? — Whatever could I do now, if he spoke? 
— Me walking after him at the plough, and he 
talking back to me ! . . . What would he be 
saying to me ? — What would he be saying ? — 
What good would it do, what good would it 



i82 The Wolf of Gubbio 

do any man here if he spoke? — What would 
my shame be, ever after, — putting him under 
the yoke? 

Neighbors 
What 's happened to Nicolo ? Is he singing ? 

NiCOLO 

[irately] 

Singing! — I? — It 's the simple truth I am 

telling you. Say no more, blessed Francis, — 

Brother Juniper ! You have not to say a word. 

— And listen. Our Lady, turn not aside. — 

...... Listen, ah, do not frown ! 

' [Moved at himself ~\ 
Listen, Madonna, — Oh, Holy Child! — 

. . . My. heart is upside-down. 
For was t not saving the space, now ? 
And were we not all to give. place, now? — 
^Stable and inn, — and bed and board 
For these noble men coming from France, — 

. . ; Ay, and their lord ? 

Now hearken you two, — and hearken all! — 
You shall take of the goodliest of my stall; 
To be your comfort and your stay ; — 

[Nigh weeping"] 



The Wolf of Gubbio 183 

Finer there is not, no, palfrey nor pony ! 
Take, and take home, — and ride him away : — 
Pantaleone ! \_Pointing to the Ass. 

Pantaleone, — my donkey there; 

IfThe people stirred to enthusiasm^ 
So mild, and nimble, and sage and fair ; 
Yes, and his bridle too, beside; — 
Ah, what will you ? — Now you shall ride 
As the Holy Ones fled into Egypt, they say 

and they sing, — 
From Herod the King! 

Neighbors 

Bravo! Bravo I Bravo Nicolo! — 
— Not that a donkey is as good as a child, 
but a fine donkey it is, too ! — Ah, Evviva 
Pantaleone ! 

[Louis advances with a golden casket in his 
hands, 

Louis 

My fellow-pilgrims, ye have heard 
Nicolo's word. 

How all mischances here that be. 
Befell . . . because of me ; 
Unwitting how my too much state 
Would dispossess the desolate. 



184 The Wolf of Gubbio 

Lady, I have no gift to bring 

Worthy the most high King. 

Well do I see, in gold too late, 

There is no kind of mirth. — 

It is no more but yellow earth. 

Yet, tho' I may not see thy tears consoled, 

Yet, I beseech thee take 

This offering for Love's sake. 

Not weighed in gold. 

[♦S*^^ heaV'S with grave sweetness ; the peo^ 
pie murmur y and stretch their necks to see. 

T 

The People 

— Look, look, his offering! 

— It might be from a King, 

— What is it? — 

• — What 'but gold? 

— She weeps ! 

— And yet, 't is gold. 

— Ah, who could be consoled ? — 

The Wolf 
\moaning apart'\ 

Deh ! Las so y — Guai^ — Guai ! 

' [The King and his men withdraw; Assunta 
is clearly seen^ looking out with wide eyes of 
grief above the gold casket y motionless. 



The Wolf of Gubbio 185 

The Dyer's Wife 

— Ah, how could she forget? 

The Baker 

Ipi^yingly'] 

— Madonna's weeping yet. 

[Grillo starts toward the Manger as one 
in a trance, Vecchio Vecchio seeks to 
stay hiniy then falls hack^ under the same 
spelL 

Grillo 

[yacantly~\ 

Madonna ... I know not . . . what to say. 
[AssuNTA looks at him; and her eyes widen 
as she recognizes him. Giuseppe lifts his 
head toOy and his face grows tense ; both 
are rigid, with the awe of their sacred 
characters struggling against human pain, 
Grillo speaks as a broken man, but 
younger, 
I was ... a farer by this way, — 

. . . Only to-day. 
Madonna . . . look you, I have sinned. 
This cloak . . . that warmed you from the 
wind, — 

\Holding it up~\ 



i86 The Wolf of Gubbio 

It was for want, and bitter lack. 
I give it back. . . . 

[^He turns and comes down. Brother Leo 

receives it for her, 
Vecchio Vecchio approaches^ in the same 
manner^ as a man who does not care 
further what becomes of him ; the people 
amazed all into silence, 

Vecchio Vecchio 
\restoring the wallet and the silver image"] 

Lady, .... I pray this grace of you ; 
And Holy Joseph's pardon, too. 
Lady, we could not well suppose . . . 
But this is truth, God knows ! — ■ 

\_Backs awayy held by the eyes of Assunta 
and Giuseppe, both trembling and pale, 

Francis 

' Yea, she that w^ears in our dim sight, 
Our Lady's halo, for to-night, — 
Will she not see with mother-eyes,^" 
And fold us all, — all mother-wise, 
In the pitying glory of her light? 
' [Assunta, without turning her head^ slowly 
crosses her arms upon her bosom and smiles 



The Wolf of Gubbio 187 

through her tears. Giuseppe's face clears 
into strong beauty, ^hey stand rapt, 
Leo ^;/^ Juniper, each with a green branchy 
approach the Manger , and look on it with 
such joy and devotion^ that the Children 
stretch up to see. 



BiMBA 

\_calUng\ 

O Brother Juniper? What do you see ? — 
Is the Christ Child there? 

Juniper 

\laying down his greenery with awe, almost 
whispering] 

But it may be ! 

\_Last, Francis, with illumined face, goes up 
to the Manger, and stretches his arms out 
over it with rapturous tenderness; — as if 
it were to him a bird's nest rather than 
an altar, 

Francis 
O, Nest ! 

Nest of all heart's desire ! 



i88 The Wolf of Gubbio 

Even to thee the blinded birds go seeking ; 

Nest of all Love ! 

O empty Nest, — 

Be filled, be filled with these, — 

The wayworn sorrows, thronging, weeping, 

thronging, — 
The lost compassions, yea, the lack and longing 
Without hearts-ease ! 

Nest that nor man nor bird did ever build. 
Be filled, be fiUed, 
Over, — above — 
All Our sore longing. 
All our blind weeping, — 
Hopeless of rest , 

O Nest of the Light of the World! 
Thou Nest. 

The People 

Noely Noel ! 

Francis 

...... Nay, hark ! 

What heavy heart is yonder in the dark ? 
\_Shading his eyes^ he steps down, looking to- 
wards The Wolf.] 
Lo, Brother Wolf! 



The Wolf of Gubbio 189 

The People 

[looking for The Wolf who is half hiding by the 
arcade of Lucrezia's house'\ 

— The Wolf, the Wolf? 
.... Then he did not go ? 

— What, was it he then, moaning so? 

— Look, is he hurt ? He limps, 

No, No ! 

The Wolf 
\in a loud voice] 

Yes, it 's The Wolf ... of Gubbio ! 

[^Exclamations of amazement show that the 
people have understood him to speak in 
words. 

The People 

Look, listen! — Did you hear? — Did you 
hear ? — The Wolf \ talking. — The Wolf *s 
speaking. Is it a dream ? — No, No ! Look 
there ! 

— The Wolf spoke out ! — He spoke a word ! 
We heard him all — we heard ! We heard ! 

LUCREZIA 

The miracle of the flocks and herds ! 



igo The Wolf of Gubbio 

Bimbo and Bimba 
The Wolf is talking words ! 

All 

— The Wolf is talking words ! 

Francis 

Ah, Brother Wolf, thy heart was sore ; — 
We should have welcomed thee before. 

Forgive it, Brother mine. 

Whatever burden weighs within thy breast, 
Come hither, come ; yea, leave it at this shrine 
That is a nest. 
\T^he bystanders listen with open-mouthed 
amaze while The Wolf speaks in a great 
voice of grief , 

The Wolf 

Ah, no. Lifetime is over ; — past. 
These words I have, are first and last. 

\fro Francis with heart-broken year ning\ 
With all my thirst . . . 
With all my power, — 
I strove to linger out this hour. — 
Since I did live, for this one day. 



The Wolf of Gubbio igi 

This only day, when first, — ah, yes ! 

I heard thy words of loveliness ; 

Out of thy mouth ; — 

Out of thy heart, — 

Only to-day ! — 

I strove . . . but could not stay apart; — 

I could not creep away. 

O, I was fain ; — but never can 

Lift me so far to be a man ; — 

Man the one that a Wolf would be; — 

Even as thee, — even as thee! 

Midnight is come ; the bond is loose. — 

What worth to me their stony truce ? r 

The peace is broken, and void again. 

Betwixt us beasts and men. — 

So. — Let them stone, and hunt, and spurn: 

Slay me ! — I will not turn. — 

Only to be forevermore 

' Wolf-at-the-Door ! — Wolf-at-the-Door ! * 

I have no will to live ; — 

Let none forgive ! 

All other craving is gone by. 

Better to die, — than live and be 

Man without love ; — 

Better to die. 



192 The Wolf of Gubbio 

Francis 

Nay, Brother Wolf, ah, grieve not so ; 
All was forgiven. 

The Wolf 
iJn anguish'] 

Thou dost not know 
All. But thou shalt; — the one thing left: — - 
My gift ! ... My theft. 

[^He creeps towards Assunta, who looks 
back at him bewildered. 
And thou, Madonna, ah, forgive 
The one long day I strove to live ! 

Lady, let my heart lie there. 
Even with its halting prayer 
Unspoken. 

1 give you as I may. — My old wolf's heart 
. . . Is broken. 

\He limps with lowered head into Lu- 
crezia's house. 

The People 

Where is he going to ? .... . 

. - . My way? 

. Your way ? 



The Wolf of Gubbio 193 

See ! See ! 

. Old Lucrezia's doorway ! 

Look at him ! — Into the house unbidden ! 

What has he hidden? — What has he hidden ? 
\_Reenter The Wolf, with the swaddled 
Babe in his teeth. He goes up through the 
crowd which parts before him, — to As- 
suNTA, — and lays the Baby in the Manger. 
The faces of the parents show their 
amazement J incredulous hope, wild joy, as 
they see that it is their own. 

The People 

— Miracle ! — Miracle ! — Holy Bambino ! 

— Mother of Mercies ! — 

And how could he know? 

A man — a wolf — a man ! 

— No, no ! — 
Fra Lupone ! — Fra Lupone ! — 

— Fra Lupone of Gubbio ! 

The Children 
The Christ is found ! All 's well ! 



194 The Wolf of Gubbio 

The Knights 

. . . Noel, . . . Noel! 
[Bystanders embrace The Wolf, with 

rapture, 
Francis picks up a long green branch from 

the strewingSy and makes as if he would 

play an invisible viol over his arm, singing 

the while, 
^he Children gleefully pick up rushes in like 

manner, and look to him as he calls aloud 

for gladness. 

r • 

Francis 

Oh, and the very stars shall sing 
For joy of this glad thing. 

Lo, Love is born ! 
Though we crown Him yet with thorn, 
Though we laugh Him all to scorn. 

Love, — Love is born ! ] 



Curtain, 



The Wolf of Gubbio 195 

Epilogue 

Francis parts the curtains and stands forth, 
shading his eyes, as if he were still searching 
the darkness beyond the tented place, 

Francis 

And if there be out yonder any Wolf, 

Or great or small, behold, — 
Come, little brother Wolves, come in, come 
hither. 

Out of the cold ! 




DEC 5 1913 



CAMBRIDGE . MASSACHUSETTS 
U . S . A 



